Here is the answer provided at www.etymoline.com: 1610s, from Sp. mangle, mangue (1530s), perhaps from Carib or Arawakan. Second syllable is from influence of grove. A Malay origin also has been proposed, but it is difficult to explain how it came to be used for an American plant. Bottom line, nobod...

Fascinating etymology which led me to the flip and sunny side, "meliorative," (make better) based on the comparative degree of Latin "bonus" for good. So bonus, melior, optimus: positive, comparative, superlative. Now we also see the origins of "optimistic" and "op...

"Liminal" is a word of glowing appeal, so much so that some authors may have substituted a "u" for an "i" linking it to the Latin "lumen," an opening or light. For instance: Yes, it was luminal, here where he stood; at the very juncture between all those heaps...

And whilst we discuss "tsunamis" let us not forget their gargantuan cousins, "Rogue Waves" which can reach heights exceeding 100 feet. Very few witnesses to those waves...

Let me propose an antonym, "impotentate:" 1.) One who has no power or position to rule over others; 2.) One who submits or follows a group or endeavor. There are many more sheep than bellwethers on the planet. Every now and then the sheep rise up in revolt against the bellwether, as they h...

Anyone who has any doubts about the euphony of French should listen to the equivalent French expression, "sens de la langue" at http://en.bab.la/dictionary/german-french/sprachgefuehl . "Sprachgefuhl" sounds like a mountain bike colliding with a boulder. "Sens de la langue&q...

The Bible has had an enormous impact on the English Language. "Jubilate" is taken from the opening words of the 100th Psalm. It is but one example of many words and phrases plucked from the pages of the Bible. Think of "Eden," "Babel" and "Sodom," for instance...

Post it right next to "inexorable."

Let's rejoice with Egypt.

By the by, "inexorable" is not an orphan negative. "Exorable" means "able to be persuaded or moved by pleading."

Feel free to trot it out at your next cocktail party.

"Inexorable" is apt given The Inexorable March of History in Egypt.

"Zoonosis" is obscure because it sounds awful, regardless of the syllable count. "Sesquipedalian" has a high syllable count, but sounds like a ride on a Merry-Go-Round. It's musical. Regardless, "zoonosis" is probably as ancient as lonely shepherds. Not enough of the sh...

"Lustration" is indeed a beautiful and interesting word and I applaud Dr. Beard for rescuing it from obscurity--at least half of it. According to Wikipedia a second sense of the word has emerged in modern times: " More recently, in the period after the fall of the various European Com...

The difference between a Hedonist and a Voluptuary is the difference between one whose ethical philosophy holds that pleasure is the highest good (a Hedonist) and one who revels in sensual pleasures without any pretension to philosophy. (a Voluptuary) I think someone like Hugh Hefner might be consid...

Dr. Beard states: " When we call people dogs, rats, cows, pigs, and the like, we are using a kind of trope called a simile [sim-ê-lee]." I wonder, however, whether Dr. Beard means "metaphor" because when we call someone a "cow," for example, we implicitly suggest a simi...