Skip to main content

Word of the Day – Inquiline

By December 4, 2019Word of the Day

Inquiline (noun) (zoology)

in-kwil-ine

An animal exploiting the living space of another, e.g. an insect that lays its eggs in a gall produced by another.

Mid 17th century from Latin inquilinus ‘temporary resident’, from in- ‘into’ + colere ‘dwell’.

Example sentences

“an inquiline insect”

Word of the Day – Infelicitous

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Infelicitous (adj) in-fel-is-it-us inapt, inappropriate, or awkward; malapropos / not felicitous, happy, or fortunate; unhappy. First recorded in 1825–35 (more…)

Word of the Day – Absquatulate

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Absquatulate (verb) ab-skwat-yu-layt to flee; abscond. First recorded in 1820–30. Formed from ab-, “away from,” and squat, “to sit in a low or crouching position.” (more…)

Word of the Day – Steadfast

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Steadfast (adj) sted-fast Firm in purpose, resolution, faith, attachment. First recorded before 1000 and comes from the Middle English word stedefast, from Old English stedefæst. (more…)

Word of the Day – Motte

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Motte (noun) mot (historic)a mound forming the site of a castle or camp. late 19th century: from French, ‘mound’, from Old French mote (see moat). (more…)

Word of the Day – Plash

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Plash (noun) plash A gentle splash. / A pool or puddle. First recorded before 1000; Middle English plasch “pool, puddle,” Old English plæsc; cognate with Dutch, Low German plas, probably…

Word of the Day – Fulgurate

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Fulgurate (verb) gul-guyr-ayt To flash and dart like lightning. 1670–80;  Latin fulgurātus, past participle of fulgurāre to flash, glitter, lighten, derivative of fulgur flash of lightning (more…)

Word of the Day – Eustress

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Eustress (noun) yoo-stres Physical, mental, or emotional tension that is caused by something positive or is psychologically or physically beneficial. First recorded in 1965–70 and comes from the Greek prefix…

Word of the Day – Heterogeneous

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Heterogeneous (adj) het-er-oh-jeen-yus Different in kind; unlike; incongruous. Composed of parts of different kinds; having widely dissimilar elements or constituents 1615–25; Medieval Latin (more…)

Word of the Day – Hodgepodge

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Hodgepodge (adj) hodj-podj A random mixture; a jumble. First recorded in 1615–25; variant of hotchpotch (more…)

Leave your vote

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.