Word of the Day: Emeritus.

ADJECTIVE
1. (Of the former holder of an office, especially a college professor) Having retired but allowed to retain their title as an honor.

Example Sentences.
1. "The banquet was held every year to honor the emeritus professors."
2. "The president emeritus of the university was invited back to speak at graduation."
3. "She sometimes still attends meetings as an emeritus director of the organization."

Word Origin.
Latin, mid-18th century

In Latin, the verb "emereri" means "to earn one's discharge by service." "Emeritus" originates from this verb, essentially designating someone who has earned retirement but is still entitled to the honor they've earned. The female form is technically "emerita," but the outdated term is rarely still used. "Emeritus" is most commonly used now in academic settings.

Word of the Day: Nadir.

NOUN
1. The lowest point in the fortunes of a person or organization.
2. (Astronomy) The point on the celestial sphere directly below an observer. The opposite of "zenith."

Example Sentences.
1. "At the nadir of his sales career, he decided to try a new path and go back to school."
2. "I couldn't find the Ursa Major constellation, because it was positioned at my nadir."
3. "You can see by these charts that our revenue reached its nadir in 2011 and recovered over the next five years."

Word Origin.
Arabic, late 14th century

"Nadir" comes from the Arabic word "naẓīr," which means "opposite to the zenith, the highest point in the celestial sky" (or the point directly above the observer). The original usage of this word applied to astronomy. For example, if you were to go outside and look directly up at the sky, then draw an imaginary line from that point in the sky down through your body, straight through the Earth and into the sky on the other side of the world, that celestial point would be your nadir.

Ivan and I did a 3.5 mile interval training run this morning. I felt much better than what I did on Saturday.

Word of the Day: Perdurable.

ADJECTIVE
1. Enduring continuously; imperishable.

Example Sentences.
1. "One selling point of cast-iron cookware is how seemingly perdurable it is."
2. "Mozart's influence on music has proved to be perdurable."
3. "My grandfather always claimed his love for my grandmother was perdurable."

Word Origin.
Latin, late 13th century

"Perdurable" comes to us from late Middle English via Old French, with the root in the Latin "perdurare," meaning "endure." You'd be hard-pressed to find anything more perdurable than the isotope xenon-124: It has the longest half-life of any material that's been directly measured in a lab, 18 sextillion years.

Word of the Day: Auteur.

NOUN
1. A filmmaker whose personal influence and artistic control over a movie are so great that the filmmaker is regarded as the author of the movie.

Example Sentences.
1. "Kathryn aimed to become an auteur whose films would be instantly recognizable."
2. "The movie's distinctive elements had critics calling the young director Hollywood's newest
auteur."
3. "Female filmmakers such as Sofia Coppola and Greta Gerwig are becoming more recognized as modern auteurs."

Word Origin.
French, 1960s

American film critic Andrew Sarris coined the term "auteur theory" in his famous 1962 essay "Notes on the Auteur Theory," and thus "auteur," which means "author" in French, was popularized in American English. As a result of this and other Sarris writings, more public attention turned to the overall craft of filmmaking instead of being focused solely on the actors.

Quote of the Day
“Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.”