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Acceptance is the act of accepting or receiving. Acceptation is another word for acceptance, especially with the connotation of the object being well-received, or being approved of by the recipient. Acceptation also has a linguistic meaning of the generally understood definition of a word. This word is rarely used (outside of the French language) and …
To put a moratorium on something means to ban or prohibit it temporarily. In legal language it also means to authorize a delay in payment of a debt. The plural can be either moratoriums or moratoria. As with all adopted Latin, adding an s is perfectly acceptable, but there will always be some who prefer the Latin …
Seraphic describes something or someone as angel-like. It comes from the word seraph, which is another word for an angel. The plural of seraph is seraphim, which is actually the original word and all other variations are back formations. Seraphic also makes the adverb seraphically. Examples He crossed oceans of water and time to escape the titular seraph and …
August is the eighth month in the Western or Gregorian calendar; it is a proper noun and should be capitalized. It can be plural in the form of Augusts. While much of the world uses or at least recognizes the Gregorian calendar, there are quite a few other calendars in use throughout …
Wonder is a verb meaning to feel curiosity, doubt, or admiration. Wonder can also be a noun describing a feeling of admiration, usually caused by something new or beautiful. Wonderment is a synonym for the noun definition of wonder. It is a noun meaning a state of reverence or adoration. In most cases, wonder would be sufficient. However, one …
Quixotic describes something or someone as wishful to the point of foolishness. This person or thing is often engaged in achieving ideals or impossible tasks. The word comes from a book titled The ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. The main character, Don Quixote, imagines himself a knight …
Akimbo describes a body position where hands are on hips and the elbows are out wide. It is an appositive, which means it is an adjective that always follows the noun it modifies, such as arms akimbo. Recently there has been a rise in using akimbo in reference to almost anything that is …
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As a transitive verb, one which requires an object, oblige can mean to restrict by external force or circumstances. To be obliged is to be in someone’s debt because of a favor or service. As an intransitive verb, one which does not require an object, oblige means to take action as a favor, or without …
Writ large is a phrase meaning obvious or clear. Writ is an archaic form of ‘written’. So one can understand the idiom writ large as something written largely or magnified. However, it should always be in reference to a specific noun, used after said noun as an appositive, and not as a verbal …