Here are the meanings of the least-found words, and how they were used in (mostly) recent Times articles:
1. libidinal — relating to sexual desire:
“Last Dance” is about the relationship between artist and patron, and also about something that can’t be reduced to libidinal or economic transactions. In other words, it’s a love story. — ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ Review: Stripping Down to Bare Essentials (Feb. 8, 2023)
2. gangland — the underworld of organized crime:
He himself has kept one foot firmly in gangland. Yakuza bosses call him frequently, asking for advice or for help smoothing over a conflict. The police, too, sought him out for updates on gang activity. — What’s a Japanese Mobster to Do in Retirement? Join a Softball Team. (Feb. 8, 2023)
3. entente — an informal alliance or understanding between groups:
On Monday, after an entente negotiated among the co-curators, students, faculty, and members of the Ukrainian and Cooper Union communities, Cooper Union announced that it was reinstating the show. — At Cooper Union, a Russian Design Show Caught in a Political Crossfire (Feb. 7, 2023)
4. tomtit — any of several small birds:
The Audubon Society would file a complaint in defense of tomtit virility. But, such is the state of Massenet’s reputation, I doubt that many sophisticated operagoers would rush to defend him. They have been made to feel shame for too long. — Music View: Massenet — Minor but Significant (Aug. 3, 1986)
5. natant — swimming or floating:
I love the word natant. The fact that it means “swimming or floating” makes me want to connect it somehow to the word “natal” because a fetus floats, but “natal” is apparently derived from the Latin natalis, meaning “pertaining to birth or origin.” — A Season in the Sun (April 28, 2017)
6. naiad — a mythological nymph that lives in lakes and rivers:
I’d forgotten Cyane, the naiad, who rises from the river to beg Pluto not to take Proserpine. He ignores her, and she feels so much sorrow, watching them descend into the mouth of hell, that her body disintegrates. — Contemplating Beauty in a Disabled Body (March 29, 2022)
7. ataxia — loss of muscle control caused by nerve damage:
The league subsequently updated its concussion guidelines to prohibit a player from returning to play if he shows ataxia, a term describing impaired balance or coordination caused by damage to the brain or nerves. — N.F.L. Says Suspended Game Won’t Resume This Week as Hamlin Stays in Hospital (Jan. 3, 2023)
8. taxa — plural of taxon, which is a scientific grouping such as species or genus:
“The time is right, now that we have several animals we think might be semiaquatic, to take a broader look at anatomical correlations with this lifestyle in living and extinct taxa,” she said. — A Penguin-Like Shape May Have Helped This Dinosaur Dive (Dec. 1, 2022)
9. minim — a tiny or insignificant amount:
Cotton Mather regrets his complicity in the Salem witch trials while his wife, Lydia, mentally prepares a pudding she’ll bake in the morning, her recipe to include “a tittle of wormwood and a minim of henbane and the eye of a freshly killed newt.” — Book Review: ‘Intercourse: Stories,’ by Robert Olen Butler (Aug. 10, 2008)
10. corolla — the petals of a flower, collectively:
The blue flowers of Phlox divaricata, a native ground cover, for example, have too narrow a corolla for bees to reach the pollen. — In the Garden: Asking More of the Landscape (Feb. 4, 2015)
And the list of the week’s easiest words:
Eve Washington, Josh Katz and Tom Giratikanon
Source link
