Word of the Week 09/29/19: Dowse

From Dictionary.com:

To search for underground water, minerals, etc, using a divining rod.

From Wikipedia:

Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites, and many other objects and materials without the use of scientific apparatus.

Word of the Week 09/22/19: Germane

From Dictionary.com:

1. closely or significantly related; relevant; pertinent:
2. Obsolete. closely related.

From Vocabulary.com:

You can thank Shakespeare for the modern meaning of the adjective germane. The word originally referred to people who have the same parents. Shakespeare added the word's figurative meaning of objects being closely related or relevant when he used it in the play Hamlet.

From Wiktionary:

Variant form of german, adapted in this sense in allusions to its use in Shakespeare's Hamlet.
 - Having the same mother and father; a full (brother or sister). "brother-german"

From Merriam-Webster:

Relevant, Germane, Material, Pertinent, Apposite, Applicable, Apropos mean relating to or bearing upon the matter in hand. Relevant implies a traceable, significant, logical connection. Germane may additionally imply a fitness for or appropriateness to the situation or occasion. Material implies so close a relationship that it cannot be dispensed with without serious alteration of the case. Pertinent stresses a clear and decisive relevance. Apposite suggests a felicitous relevance. Applicable suggests the fitness of bringing a general rule or principle to bear upon a particular case. Apropos suggests being both relevant and opportune.

"Wert thou a Leopard, thou wert Germane to the Lion." So wrote Shakespeare in Timon of Athens (circa 1607), using an old (and now obsolete) sense of germane meaning "closely akin." Germane derives from the Latin word germen, meaning "bud" or "sprout," which is also at the root of our verb germinate, meaning "to sprout" or "begin to develop." An early sense of germane referred specifically to children of the same parents.

Word of the Week 09/15/19: Limpid

From Merriam-Webster:
1a. Marked by transparency
 b. Clear and simple in style
2. Absolutely serene and untroubled

Clear, Transparent, Translucent, Limpid mean capable of being seen through. Clear implies absence of cloudiness, haziness, or muddiness.  clear water  Transparent implies being so clear that objects can be seen distinctly.  a transparent sheet of film  Translucent implies the passage of light but not a clear view of what lies beyond.  translucent frosted glass  Limpid  suggests the soft clearness of pure water.  her eyes were limpid pools of blue

Since the early 1600s, "limpid" has been used in English to describe things that have the soft clearness of pure water. The aquatic connection is not incidental; language scholars believe that "limpid" probably traces to "lympha," a Latin word meaning "water." That same Latin root is also the source of the word lymph, the English name for the pale liquid that helps maintain the body's fluid balance and that removes bacteria from tissues.

From Dictionary.com:
First recorded in 1605–15, limpid is from the Latin word limpidus clear.

From Vocabulary.com:
1. clear and bright
2. transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity
3. (of language) transparently clear; easily understandable

Word of the Week 09/08/19: Scintillating

From Vocabulary.com:

1. having brief brilliant points or flashes of light
2. marked by high spirits or excitement
3. brilliantly clever

From Dictionary.com:

First recorded in 1615–25, scintillate is from the Latin word scintillātus (past participle of scintillāre to send out sparks, flash)

ed. note: pronounced with a silent "c"

Word of the Week 09/01/19: Gimcrack

"Love is but a flitting shadow, a lure, a gimcrack, a kickshaw." - Nathanael West

From Dictionary.com:

A showy, useless trifle; gewgaw.

From Wiktionary:

Showy but of poor quality; worthless.

From World Wide Words.org:

Gimcrack used to describe some kind of inlaid work in wood but later changed to mean a fanciful notion or mechanical contrivance. It became popular in the eighteenth century in the modern sense.

ed note: pronounced with a soft "g"