My Science School

Espionage

The noun stands for the activity of getting important political or military information about another country secretly. It can also be used for finding out another company's secrets using spies.

Origin

The word finds its origin in the late 18th Century, from the French word espionnage, from espionner meaning to spy from espion meaning a spy.

Usage

Corporate espionage could be the reason for ABC company's success.

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Turncoat

Meaning:

Turncoat means traitor or defector. It is used as a noun and refers to a person who deserts one party so as to join an opposing side.

Origin:

The term has been in use since the 1550s. Turncoat is derived from the words "turn" (verb) + "coat" (noun). This expression comes from the ancient practice of wearing a badge on one's coat signifying the party or leader one backed. When one attempts to hide the badge, it shows one's preference to change one's party or principles.

Example sentences:

 He is accused of being a turncoat.

He is a turncoat who ditched his party for political gains. If he has once been a turncoat, he will be a turncoat again.

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Desolate

Meaning:

Desolate is used as an adjective and a verb. It means uninhabited, empty (of a place having none or nothing pleasant in it) or feeling miserable, lonely, unhappy or wretched.

Origin:

The term "desolate" has its roots in the Latin verb desolare, meaning "to abandon." The Middle English word desolat comes from "desolare," which combines the Latin prefix de- meaning "from" and the adjective solus, meaning "alone."

Example sentences:

The news that a cure for the disease will be available in the next few weeks has brought some cheer to an otherwise desolate scenario.

What was once a thriving town wears a desolate look as a result of the prolonged conflict.

She was desolated by the death of her dear friend.

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Gravitas

The word gravitas denotes dignity, seriousness, solemnity or importance of manner, causing feeling of respect and trust in others. In a sense, it implies authority along with weight.

Origin

The word, which has been around since 1924, derives from Latin gravitas, meaning "weight, heaviness". Once gravity acquired a primarily scientific meaning, this word that corresponds to a person's dignity, presence and influence was coined.

After relatively low usage in the first decades of its existence, the word has seen a steep spike in usage from late in the second half of the 20th Century.

Usage

He is exceptionally skilled at football, but he lacks the statesmanlike gravitas to be a leader off the pitch as well.

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Mythology

This noun refers to a collection of myths or stories, especially one belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition. It also refers to the study of myths.

Origin:

The word mythology is said to have origins in the Greek word mythologia, meaning "legendary lore, a telling of mythic legends; a legend, story, tale". It combines the two words mythos (myth) and logia (to study).

 Example:

Mythology can at once both inform and fascinate.

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Deepfake

Meaning:

Deepfake is a noun used to refer to a video of a person in which their face has been digitally altered such that they look like someone else.

Origin:

The word finds its origins in the early 21st Century from the words 'deep' and 'fake'.

Usage:

The video of Obama being circulated is a deepfake.

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Dyad

The word dyad denotes something that consists of two elements or parts. Specifically in sociology, it corresponds to two individuals maintaining a significant relationship.

Origin

Used since the 1670s, the word derives from Latin dyad, stem of dyas, from Greek dyas that means "the number two or a group of two". This in turn is from duo, which means "two". The word dyad has been used in chemistry with a specific meaning since 1865 and is also used in biology, poetics and mathematics.

While the word found very little usage in the first half of the 19th Century, things got a little better in the next 100 years or so. There has been a steep increase in the usage of the word 'dyad' since the 1950s.

Usage

This book examines the teacher-student dyad from several interesting perspectives.

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Traipse

This word is a verb that describes the walk from one place to another, often feeling tired or bored. Traipse is usually followed by a preposition.

Origin:

Though traipse is said to have been in use since the end of the 16th Century, its exact origin is not very clear. It is assumed to have emerged from the word trepasser (used in a French dialect) to mean "pass over or beyond" or from the Middle Dutch word trappen, to mean "to tread, stamp".

Example:

I saw people traipse through the park for over four hours.

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Canard

Meaning:

Canard means a false, unfounded story or report that is spread deliberately to deceive people. Used as a noun, canard has an aeronautical sense too - a canard is a small winglike projection attached to an aircraft to provide extra stability.

Origin:

The word canard came from French canard meaning "duck, hoax", which in turn came from Old French caner meaning 'to quack'. The word was first used in English in the mid-19th Century to mean "false, baseless report".

Example sentences:

The story of an armed group surrounding the bank was a canard.

The report that he won by a wide margin proves to be a canard.

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Stifle

Stifle is a verb which means to prevent something from happening, being expressed, or continuing. It also means to make someone unable to breathe

Origin

The word has been in use since the late 14th Century to mean "to cholee, suffocate, drown." It possibly came from an alteration of the Old French estouffer "to stifle, smother" The metaphoric sense of "to withhold from circulation or expression has been in use since the 1570s.

Usage

The student stifled a giggle when the teacher pronounced her name wrong.

We tried our best to stifle yawns during the lecture.

The residents in the building were almost stifled by the fumes.

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