WORD OF THE DAY: March 7
gnomic

Word of the Day March 7   gnomic adjective 1 : characterized by aphorism 2 : given to the composition of aphoristic writing   Some critics have praised the young artist's gnomic utterances, while others argue that her sayings are simply pretentious rubbish. "The film is grand but complex, canny and sincere.… If Spielberg were more intellectual or more gnomic in discussing his films, he might be regarded not as a mass-market wizard but as a cult director." — From a film review by Francine Stock in Prospect, January 24, 2013 Sponsored Link   A gnome is an aphorism—that is, an observation or sentiment reduced to the form of a saying. Gnomes are sometimes couched in metaphorical or figurative language, they are often quite clever, and they are always concise. We borrowed the word "gnome" in the 16th century from the Greeks, who based their "gnōmē" on the verb "gignōskein," meaning "to know." (That other "gnome"—the dwarf of folklore—comes from New Latin and is unrelated to today's word.) We began using "gnomic," the adjective form of "gnome," in the early 19th century. It describes a style of writing (or sometimes speech) characterized by pithy phrases, which are often terse to the point of mysteriousness. Test Your Memory: What is the meaning of "factotum," our Word of the Day from February 6? The answer is …

The Word of Today is from yesterday!  Merriam has not lost the plot, just  have a delayed response due to the Many, many things on my calendar!

Some critics have praised the young artist's gnomic utterances, while others argue that her sayings are simply pretentious rubbish.

"The film is grand but complex, canny and sincere.… If Spielberg were more intellectual or more gnomic in discussing his films, he might be regarded not as a mass-market wizard but as a cult director." — From a film review by Francine Stock in Prospect, January 24, 2013

A gnome is an aphorism—that is, an observation or sentiment reduced to the form of a saying. Gnomes are sometimes couched in metaphorical or figurative language, they are often quite clever, and they are always concise. We borrowed the word "gnome" in the 16th century from the Greeks, who based their "gnōmē" on the verb "gignōskein," meaning "to know." (That other "gnome"—the dwarf of folklore—comes from New Latin and is unrelated to today's word.) We began using "gnomic," the adjective form of "gnome," in the early 19th century. It describes a style of writing (or sometimes speech) characterized by pithy phrases, which are often terse to the point of mysteriousness.

Test Your Memory: What is the meaning of "factotum," our Word of the Day from February 6? The answer is …