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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Merriam-Webster
Build your vocabulary with Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day! Each day a Merriam-Webster editor offers insight into a fascinating new word -- explaining its meaning, current use, and little-known details about its origin.
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- Today2 min
tittle
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 3, 2026 is: tittle • \TITT-ul\ • noun Used chiefly in British English, tittle refers to a very small part or amount; it is often paired with the word jot. In writing and printing on both sides of the pond, tittle also refers to a point or small sign used as a diacritical mark. // There is not a jot or tittle of evidence to support their claims. See the entry > Examples: "First-class engineering allows the listener to savour every sonic jot and tittle." — Clive Paget, The Guardian (London), 13 Feb. 2026 Did you know? When most of us dot our i's and cross our t's, our minds are with the words we are writing rather than the anatomy of the letters we employ. But those dots and crosses? The types who love type have names for them. The mark that sits above the lowercase i (as well as j) is known as a "tittle". Tittle comes from the Medieval Latin noun titulus, meaning "title," and has also been used over the centuries for diacritical marks including tildes, as well as any small mark or sign in writing or printing—hence the figurative use of tittle to refer to a very small part of something. For those curious about additional letter components, stroke refers to one of the lines that form a letter, including the horizontal lines that mark the lowercase letters t and f (which may be described more specifically as a "cross strokes"). Typographers even have a word for the negative space enclosed by strokes, such as the hole in the letter o: it's known as a “counter.”
- Yesterday2 min
heterodox
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 2, 2026 is: heterodox • \HET-uh-ruh-dahks\ • adjective Like both unorthodox and unconventional, heterodox describes something, such an idea or belief, that is contrary to or different from an acknowledged standard, a traditional form, or an established religion. Heterodox can also describe a person or group that holds unorthodox opinions or doctrines. // The two new faculty members' heterodox approach to teaching science initially met with some resistance from their peers. See the entry > Examples: “The result is what researchers call the ‘spiral of silence’ (Noelle-Neumann, 1974), which describes the process by which dissenters go quiet, fearing social backlash; this, in turn, makes other dissenters feel even more alone, producing a false consensus that further suppresses dissent. The group appears unanimous, and everyone with a heterodox view assumes they’re the only one.” — The Open Therapy Institute, Psychology Today, 22 June 2026 Did you know? Hot take: individuals often see other people’s ideas as unconventional while regarding their own as common sense. On second thought, this take may be more on the mild side—in other words, closer to orthodox (“conventional”) insight about human nature than to heterodox (“unconventional” or “contrary”) opinion. Both orthodox and heterodox developed from the same root, the Greek doxa, meaning “opinion.” Heterodox combines doxa with heter-, a combining form meaning “other” or “different”; orthodox pairs doxa with orth-, meaning “correct” or “straight.”
- 2 days ago2 min
slew
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 1, 2026 is: slew • \SLOO\ • noun Slew is an informal word for a large number of people or things. // The pile of junk mail included a slew of catalogs. See the entry > Examples: “The nonalcoholic drinks category has expanded so much in recent years that it’s not uncommon to find a list of thoughtful, complex nonalcoholic beverages on a bar or restaurant’s cocktail menu—yes, even outside of the major cities. And it’s even easier to enjoy alcohol-free beverages at home thanks to a slew of brands making really good alcohol alternatives that you can order online and have delivered directly to your door.” — Carina Finn and Emily Farris, Bon Appétit, 31 Dec. 2025 Did you know? Slew appeared as an American colloquialism in the early 19th century. Its origins are unclear, but it may have come from the Irish word slua, a descendant of slúag, an Old Irish word meaning “army,” “host,” or “throng.” Indeed, the earliest known uses of slew appear in a martial context, from a historical novel by Daniel Pierce Thompson about Vermont and the Green Mountain Boys, a militia organized in Vermont during the American Revolution. In one scene, one of the Boys tells leader Ethan Allen that “there’s more than a hundred slew of men coming!” Later, British General Burgoyne is said to have “drawn up a whole slew of cannon.” But despite this early military setting, slew is not limited to troops or artillery; a slew of data shows the word describing nearly anything existing in abundance.
- 3 days ago1 min
epistemic
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 30, 2026 is: epistemic • \ep-uh-STEE-mik\ • adjective Epistemic means "of or relating to knowledge or knowing." // He's a brilliant teacher who has the epistemic humility to know that there is always more to learn. See the entry > Examples: "Is a novel's primary purpose to entertain or to deepen our experience of being alive—to offer escape or epistemic enrichment?" — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 8 July 2026 Did you know? If you're not in the know about the history of epistemic, allow us to enlighten you. The term's root is the Greek word epistḗmē, meaning "skill, expertise, knowledge,” and specifically “scientific knowledge” (as opposed to practical skill). Epistḗmē in turn comes from the verb epístamai, meaning "to have the skill, to know how, to have knowledge of, to understand." Epístamai itself combines the prefix epi-, meaning "upon" or "attached to," with the verb hístēmi, histánai, meaning "to cause to stand." (Tidbit: histánai is also an ancestor of the English words system, stand, and, of course, understand.) The study of the nature and grounds of knowledge is called epistemology, and one who engages in such study is known as an epistemologist.
- 4 days ago1 min
argot
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 29, 2026 is: argot • \AHR-goh\ • noun Argot refers to the language or set of words used by a particular group of people. // The novels were such a success that fans began communicating in the secret argot spoken by the series’ characters. See the entry > Examples: “[Lenny] Bruce, born Leonard Alfred Schneider on Long Island, quit school at 16 and got his start telling jokes at a Brooklyn nightclub for $12 a week. … He developed his act in ... jazz joints around Southern California in the mid-1950s. He riffed in a Beatnik argot, and his act took on the flavor of improvisational jazz.” — Christopher Goffard, The Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2026 Did you know? English borrowed argot from French in the early 1800s, although the language already had several words basically covering its meaning. Jargon, the Anglo-French ancestor of which meant “twittering of birds,” had been used for specialized (and often obscure or pretentious) vocabulary since the 1600s. There was also lingo, from the Latin word lingua, meaning “language”; that term had been in use for more than a century. English novelist and lawyer Henry Fielding used it of “court gibberish”—what we tend to call legalese. And speaking of legalese, the suffix -ese is a newer means of indicating specialized argot. One of its very first applications at the turn of the 20th century was for “American ‘golfese.’”
- 5 days ago2 min
fungible
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 28, 2026 is: fungible • \FUN-juh-bul\ • adjective Fungible describes things, such as currency, goods, and commodities, that can be exchanged for something else of the same kind or value. In broader usage, fungible can also mean “interchangeable,” as well as “readily changeable to adapt to new situations.” // A dollar bill is considered fungible because it can easily and acceptably be traded for ten dimes, four quarters, twenty nickels, or one hundred pennies, as well as any other dollar bill. // Since fruits and vegetables are regarded as fungible in this diet, you are allowed a total of five servings of either or both. // Some baseball team managers set their batting orders in stone, while others prefer to keep their lineups fungible, to respond to the strengths or weaknesses of different opposing pitchers. See the entry > Examples: “... bitcoin is regulated differently from securities such as stocks and bonds. It’s treated as a tradable, fungible asset whose value is determined by global supply and demand.” — Becca Bratcher, Forbes, 12 Aug. 2025 Did you know? Before expectations about the origins of fungible mushroom into mycological fantasy: no, fungible has no relation to the noun fungus and its plural fungi. The fungi in fungible is there because of the Latin verb fungi, meaning “to perform,” ancestor of both fungible and function. Fungible is considerably less familiar than its cousin to most English users, but it pops up like toadstools (sorry) in legal, technological, and economic contexts. Something described as fungible can be exchanged for something else of the same kind. For example, when we say “oil is a fungible commodity,” we mean that when a purchaser is expecting a delivery of oil, any oil of the stipulated quantity and quality will usually do. Another example of something fungible is cash. It doesn't matter what twenty dollar bill you get—it’s still worth the same amount as any other twenty dollar bill. In contrast, something like a work of art (or an NFT, aka a “non-fungible token”) isn’t fungible; a purchaser would expect a specific, identifiable item to be delivered. In broader use, fungible can mean “interchangeable,” or sometimes “readily changeable to adapt to new situations.”
- 6 days ago2 min
bellwether
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 27, 2026 is: bellwether • \BEL-WEH-ther\ • noun Bellwether usually refers to something that serves as an indicator of trends. It can also refer to someone or something that leads others. // Event organizers say the concert series is a bellwether, demonstrating that good shows can bring visitors to the town. See the entry > Examples: “Disney, with its long and illustrious history and dominating cultural influence, is seen as something of a bellwether for the entire entertainment industry …” — Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Feb. 2026 Did you know? Because it suggests the act of forecasting, one might be inclined to think that bellwether has something to do with weather. But the wether in bellwether has nothing to do with meteorology. Instead, to learn whither wether, we must head to the sheep farm. We usually think of sheep more as followers than leaders, but in a flock one sheep must lead the way. Since long ago, it has been common practice for shepherds to hang a bell around the neck of one sheep in their flock, thereby designating it the lead sheep. This animal was historically called the bellwether, a word formed by a combination of the Middle English words belle (meaning “bell”) and wether, a noun that refers to a male sheep, and today specifically to a castrated male sheep. It eventually followed that bellwether would come to refer to someone who takes initiative or who actively establishes a trend that is taken up by others. This usage first appeared in English in the 15th century and has remained in the language ever since.
- 1 weeks ago2 min
confabulate
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 26, 2026 is: confabulate • \kun-FAB-yuh-layt\ • verb Confabulate has two very different meanings. Most of the time, to confabulate is to generate a false memory by filling in memory gaps with fabrications. An older meaning, still in use, is "to talk informally; to chat." // Patients who have this type of memory disorder are known to confabulate. See the entry > Examples: "My dearly-loved sister, Marj, died suddenly one month ago at 93. ... No one else will remember the glint that lit Dad's eyes when Mom announced, 'I'm baking a batch of Mrs. Mahoney's cookies.' I can smell that molasses now. ... I miss her, and especially dread the loss of her as a companion in our treasure-trove of joint memories. Who else can set the record straight when I confabulate?" — Larry Beahan, The Buffalo News, 17 Aug. 2025 Did you know? There are multiple ways to confabulate. If you want to do it the original way, you’ll simply have a chat with someone. People have been confabulating with one another thusly since the early 1600s. Today, however, the word is usually used with the meaning it took on in the early 1900s, and especially in contexts relating to psychology: confabulating in this way means fabricating memories especially to fill memory gaps. In the 2000s, confabulate is taking on a new use. Artificial intelligence that produces false output is also now sometimes said to be confabulating, i.e. hallucinating. The ultimate source of this versatile word is the Latin noun fābula, which refers to a conversation or a story, and is also the root of fabulous, as well as fable.
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About Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
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