Carolina Institute for Faith & Culture

Paul Schleifer www.etymonline.com says that certitude comes into the language in the “early 15c., from Middle French certitude ‘certainty’ (16c.), from Late Latin certitudinem (nominative certitudo) ‘that which is certain,’ from Latin certus ‘sure, certain,’ originally a […]

Paul Schleifer According to www.dictionary.com, aesthetics is “the branch of philosophy dealing with such notions as the beautiful, the ugly, the sublime, the comic, etc., as applicable to the fine […]

Paul Schleifer The word premiere can be a noun, a verb, or even an adjective. As an adjective, it means “first, initial,” as in “Michael Jordan was the premiere basketball […]

Paul Schleifer Laudable, pronounced /ˈlɔ də bəl/ (or [law-duh-buh l] for those who do not know the International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA), means praiseworthy. According to www.etymonline.com, the word comes […]

Paul Schleifer According to the OED, a charter is a written document provided “by the sovereign or legislature … granting privileges to, or recognizing rights of, the people, or of […]

Paul Schleifer According to www.etymonline.com, abstruse entered the language in the “1590s,” and that it means “’remote from comprehension,’ from Middle French abstrus (16c.) or directly from Latin abstrusus ‘hidden, […]

Paul Schleifer If you look in a regular dictionary, the first definition of sanguine that you are likely to find will be something like “cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confidence.” But […]

Paul Schleifer In common parlance, polygamy refers to being married to multiple spouses at the same time, and when people think of the word, they normally think of one man […]

Paul Schleifer According to the OED, a poem is a “piece of writing or an oral composition, often characterized by a metrical structure, in which the expression of feelings, ideas, […]

Paul Schleifer Beneficent means doing good or performing good deeds. Unlike beneficial, the emphasis is on the second (not the third) syllable: /bɪˈnɛfɪsənt/. The word evolves in English in a […]

Paul Schleifer A riposte is a “quick, sharp return in speech or action; a counterstroke,” according to www.dictionary.com. Synonyms would include comeback, quip, and retort. According to www.etymonline.com, the word […]

Paul Schleifer The emphasis is on the second syllable, not the first (/luːˈsɪfərəs/). It’s an adjective, as are all words that are derived from nouns by the addition of the […]