Category: Word Trivia

intensity

heat – As a preliminary race for a sporting contest, it is so called because of its intensity. More…

crescendo – Often mistakenly used to mean “reaching a pinnacle” when, in fact, it should be used only to describe a gradual increase in intensity or volume. More…

resonate, resound – Resonate means “to expand, to intensity, or amplify the sound of,” whereas resound means “to throw back, repeat the sound of.” More…

fervency, fervor – The intensity of heat or feeling can be described as fervency, from Latin fervere, “boil”; an instance of this heat or feeling is fervor. More…

orchestra

wind band – A band of wind instruments or a collective term for the wind instruments of an orchestra. More…

first chair – The premier musician playing a particular instrument in an orchestra—seated closest to the audience, taking the lead for that instrument’s movements, and playing any solos. More…

first violin – Leads the orchestra and plays notes in a higher range than second violins; parts for the first violin usually have more of the main tune and are technically more difficult to play. More…

orchestra – The earliest senses of orchestra were “the semicircular area for the chorus to dance in an ancient Greek theatre” and the art of dancing itself (from Greek orkheisthai, “to dance”). More…

spinach

a la Florentine – Means with spinach. More…

leaf vegetables – Include cabbage and Romaine lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, endive, and cress. More…

rainbow rotelle – A combination of tomato, spinach, and regular twirl-shaped pasta in the colors of the Italian flag. More…

spinach – May come from Persian aspanakh/ispanak, perhaps related to the Latin spina, “spine,” because of its prickly seeds. More…

prove

probe, prove, probable – Latin probare, “approve, prove, test,” is the source of English probe and prove. From that came Latin probabilis, “provable,” which became English probable. More…

sooth, soothsayer, soothe – Sooth, “true, truth,” or “that which is,” is part of soothsayer; it is related to soothe, which once meant “assent to be true; say yes to,” or “to prove or show a fact to be true.” More…

approve – Its original sense was “prove, demonstrate.” More…

rebut, refute – To rebut a statement is to offer clear evidence or a reasoned argument against it; to refute a statement is to prove it wrong (neither means “contradict” or “deny”). More…

stoppage

armistice – Comes from Latin armistitium—from arma, “arms,” and -stitium, “stoppage”—and means a temporary cessation from fighting or the use of arms, or a short truce. More…

solstice – Derived from Latin sol, “Sun,” and stitium, as the Sun appears to stand still on the first day of winter. More…

epoch – Pronounced EH-puhk, it is from Greek epokhe, “fixed point in time, stoppage,” and it was first the initial point in a chronology from which succeeding years were numbered. More…

stasis – A period of inactivity or equilibrium, from Greek histanai, “stoppage.” More…

proof

evidence, proof – Evidence—from Latin e-, “out,” and videre, “to see”— is information that helps form a conclusion; proof is factual information that verifies a conclusion. More…

proof in the pudding – A shortening of the saying “the proof of the pudding is in the eating,” i.e. a thing is tested by putting it to its intended use. More…

proof – The strength of alcohol. More…

adduce – To cite as an instance or as proof or evidence. More…