The Words of the Week - Dec. 20

‘Noel’

Lookups for noel have been high this week, not due to any particular news item but because it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

There are two things you need to know about Josh Groban: He has a 2007 Christmas album entitled “Noël,” and he is passionate about adoption and foster care.
— Shivani Gonzalez, The New York Times, 16 Dec. 2024

When capitalized, Noel is a synonym of Christmas, while the lower-case noel refers to a Christmas carol. The English noel comes from the French noël. It can be traced further back to the Latin word natalis, which can mean “birthday” as a noun or “of or relating to birth” as an adjective. (The English adjective natal has the same meaning and is also an offspring of natalis.) Noels were being sung in Latin or French for centuries before English-speakers started using the word to refer to Christmas carols in the 18th century. An early use of noel (spelled nowell) to mean “Christmas” can be found in the text of the late 14th-century Arthurian legend Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

‘Oligarchy’

Oligarchy was a top lookup late in the week, as the word has been used a lot in reference to negotiations to fund the federal government.

[Elon] Musk, who is heading Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, warned, “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” It’s not an idle threat coming from Musk, the world’s richest man, who helped bankroll Trump’s victory and can easily use his America PAC to make or break political careers. Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said this is the problem with “an oligarchy—a handful of wealthy people run everything and everyone is supposed to live in fear of them.” Senators from both parties were watching from across the Capitol with dismay.
— Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking, The Associated Press, 19 Dec. 2024

Oligarchy can refer to a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes, as well as to the group exercising such control. Oligarchy is one of numerous English words for a type of rule or government. Some of these words have exceedingly similar meanings; for example, plutocracy may also be used to refer to rule by an economic elite, but oligarchy often has the additional connotation of corruption.

‘Hush money’

Hush money was back in the news this week after a judge rejected a bid by Donald Trump to dismiss his hush money conviction.

A New York judge has ruled Donald Trump’s hush money conviction is valid, rejecting the president-elect’s argument that it should be dismissed in the wake of a landmark immunity ruling from the US Supreme Court.
— Holly Honderich, BBC, 16 Dec. 2024

We define hush money as “money paid so that someone will keep information secret; money that a person pays someone to hush something up.” Although it has the sound of recency to it, hush money is a fairly old term: our records show it has been in regular use since the end of the 17th century.

Foster saith, that he was Coachman to Mr. Germaine, and carried the Dutchess of Norfolk often, about two Years since in his Coach, and brought her home, and the Footmen have had four Half-Crowns given them, and Martin a Dutchman his helper, called it Hush-Money.
— Henry Howard, His Grace the Duke of Norfolk's Charge Against the Dutchess, 1692

‘Sesame’

The word sesame has been in the news lately, leading to a rise in lookups.

Families might soon find themselves wondering not only how to get to Sesame Street, but where exactly are they going to be able to watch the staple of childhood programming. According to a report published by USA Today, the show, now entering its 55th season, is about to be without a home after Warner Bros. Discovery decided not to renew its deal that involved the airing of the program's new episodes.
— Scott Axelrod, The Staten Island (New York) Advance, 15 Dec. 2024

Sesame is a widely cultivated chiefly tropical or subtropical annual erect herb (Sesamum indicum of the family Pedaliaceae). The word sesame can refer both to the whole plant or to its small seeds, which are used especially as a source of oil and a flavoring agent. It traces back through Latin to the Greek word sēsamon or sēsamē, and is of Semitic origin.

‘Solstice’

Solstice somewhat predictably spiked in lookups this week, as the solstice is an event that happens at least twice every year.

The 2024 winter solstice will happen on Saturday, December 21. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the solstice is at 4:21 a.m. ET in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the day with the fewest hours of sunlight throughout the year—essentially, the “shortest day” of the year.
— The Daily Jeffersonian (Cambridge, Ohio), 19 Dec. 2024

We define solstice as “one of the two times during the year when the sun is farthest north or south of the equator.” In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice usually occurs on December 21 or 22, and the summer solstice on June 20 or 21. In the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons are reversed, the solstices are exactly the opposite. The word comes from the Latin solstitium, which is from sol (“sun”) and -stit- (“standing”).

Word Worth Knowing: ‘Sitzmark’

Even though the English language is almost indescribably rich and varied in terms of its range and vocabulary, we have a relative dearth of words to apply to the physical evidence of doing a specific thing poorly. In light of this, words such as sitzmark, which refers explicitly to the dent or hole left in the snow by a skier’s rump, should be celebrated. It is most likely a creation made in English from the German verb sitzen, meaning “to sit,” plus the English noun mark, as in “impression.”