A road is a wide street or lane, usually with an asphalt or concrete surface. A road provides a clear pathway of travel from place to place. A road may also be a figurative path of travel on a life journey, a series of events leading to a particular ending or goal. In mining, a road is an underground passageway into a mine. Road comes from the Old English rad, meaning riding expedition, journey, hostile incursion. Road as meaning an …
Ail means to afflict a person, as a transitive verb ail means to be the cause of affliction or trouble, as an intransitive verb ail means to be afflicted, to be in poor health. Ail appears in the fourteenth century, derived from the Old English eglan, meaning to trouble, plague, afflict. Related words are ails, ailed and ailing. Ale is a type of beer made from malt, hops and yeast. American ale is a bitter-flavored beer with a higher alcohol …
A miner is 1.) a person who digs for coal, lead, gold, or other natural resources. 2.) a soldier who plants explosives in order to blow up enemies and enemy positions. 3.) an Australian bird 4.) a South American bird. The most common use of miner is one who mines, often modified with the item that is being mined such as a gold miner or lead miner. The word miner appears in the late thirteenth century, coming from the Old …
Incite means to stir up, to rouse to action. Incite is a transitive verb which is a verb that takes an object. Related verb forms are incites, incited and inciting. Derived nouns are incitement and inciter. Incite first appears in the mid-fifteenth century, coming from the Latin incitare meaning to put into rapid motion, to rouse, urge, encourage or stimulate. When pronouncing the word, the stress is on the second syllable, inCITE. Insight is a noun that means the ability …
Friable is an adjective that means easily crushed or crumbled, usually referring to soil and its ability to support plant growth. Friable or easily crumbled soil is crucial for strong root growth. Related words are friability and friableness. Friable is first used in the 1560s, derived from the Latin friabilis meaning easily crumbled or broken, and from friare, meaning rub away, crumble into small pieces. Fryable is an adjective that denotes food that is possible to fry. Frying may occur …
A floe is a floating sheet of ice. The terms floe and ice floe are interchangeable. A floe may occur as a piece of ice drifting on the sea, in a river, or down a stream melting off a glacier. Floe was first used by Arctic explorers in 1817, from the Norwegian flo meaning layer, slab. Flow is a verb that means to move steadily in a stream, to circulate, to hang loosely, to show smooth movement. Flow is usually …
Is it one S or two? When it comes to the words desert and dessert, most people struggle with the spelling, not the definition. It’s easy to know if you want to order a slice of cake for dessert versus whether you want to learn more about desert animals, but do you know which is which when it matters? Learn how to pronounce these two words, when to use each, and how to remember their spellings. Desert vs. Dessert: What’s …
Innate is an adjective that means a quality, attribute or talent that is inborn, natural, existing within someone or something since birth. The adverb form is innately, the noun form is innateness. Innate comes into the language in the early fifteenth century and is derived from the Latin innatus, the past participle of innasci meaning to be born in or originate in. Enate is an adjective that means to be related through one’s mother’s lineage, enatic is also used as …
Some words and terms sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. These words, such as ball vs. bawl, are called homophones, and I see them get mixed up all the time. Is it bawling or balling? What is the difference between these two words? Let’s break down the definitions of ball and bawl and how to use these homophones in a sentence. What Does Ball Mean? The definition of ball is a spherical object used in different games. …
Main is an adjective which means the thing of principal importance, central. Main may be used as a noun to refer to the principal pipe or cable carrying utilities such as water, gas or electricity, to a building. In British English, these pipes are called the mains. Archaically, main means the open ocean. The word main comes into use in the early thirteenth century to mean large, bulky, strong, from the Old English maegen meaning power, strength, force. By the …