The Dictionary Project

Today's Word of the Day: Engross

Fifth graders at Murphy Elementary School in Oakdale, CT sent us thank-you notes for their new dictionaries.

Now, they can engross themselves in the English language, one word at a time.

Today's Word of the Day: Monosyllabic

Monosyllabic comes from the ancient Greek monosyllabos, an adjective combining monos, meaning "one", and syllabē, meaning "syllable". While this Greek word was an adjective, the English word it eventually became in the 1500s, monosyllable, is a noun.

In the 1600s, the word gained its current form, monosyllabic, built by adding the suffix -ic, meaning "pertaining to," to the noun rather than reviving the original Greek word.

Though monosyllabic words are simple (unlike the 5-syllable word "monosyllabic"), there is great meaning to be found within them. The following poem shows how short, plain words can carry as much weight as longer ones:

PLAIN SPEECH

In One-Syllable Words

by Alexander McQueen

I wish that men who talk and teach
Would use the words we know;
The plain, short words that make our speech
A bond 'twixt high and low.

The words that sing of love and life
Or chant a dear one's charms;
Or tell of stress and storm and strife
And sound the call to arms.

The words we said in days long past
When first we learned to pray;
That serve us now, and to the last
Will serve us on our way.

Not so the words that fill the air
With pomp and pride and style;
They bring no thoughts for us to share,
Nor move our hearts to smile.

But when your short, plain words ring out
They tell, to age or youth,
A tale that's free from drift or doubt--
And that is Naught but Truth.