Word of the Day

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Today is Thursday, so you have two words to play with, and then you can post in the comments.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19

Celerity

[sə-LER-it-ee]Part of speech: noun

Origin: latin, 15th century

• Swiftness or rapid movement
• In oceanography, individual wave speed

Examples of Celerity in a sentence

• When the fire alarm went off, everyone headed to the exits with celerity.
• Judging the celerity of an incoming wave is crucial for surfers.

About Celerity

Celerity is a noun that means action is occurring at a rapid pace. It can be a literal quickness of the feet, or it can be a general sense of urgency. Use celerity when a quick response is important.

Did you Know?

French has a word, "célérité," which has essentially the same pronunciation and meaning as the English word. But "celerity" is actually traced back to Latin roots. "Celeritas" means quickness or haste.

BONUS

Flaneur

[fluh-nər]Part of speech: noun

Origin: french, 19th century

• One who rambles or travels aimlessly
• An idler or dawdler

Examples of Flaneur in a sentence

• He left his trip itinerary open so he could be a bit of a flaneur and do things on the fly.
• She always got in trouble for being a flaneur as she came back to class from a long break.

About Flaneur

A flaneur by another name could be called a slacker — someone who idles about, taking their time, not accomplishing much. But the French-inspired term sounds much nicer than "slacker."

Did you Know?

The two definitions of this word actually come from two different languages. In French, a "flâneur" is a loafer or a dawdler. But in Dutch, a "flaneur" is a person who roams the city on foot.