Echelon: An echelon refers to a level in an
organization or to a group of individuals at a particular level in an
organization. Echelon comes from scala, a Latin word meaning "ladder"
that is also the source of French eschelon, meaning "rung of a
ladder." Over time, the French word came to mean "step,"
"grade," or "level." English borrowed the word and upped its
meaning to "a level or category within an organization or group of
people."
Vulcanize: To harden or improve, for example, rubber by application of sulfur and heat.verb intr.: To become hardened. After Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, metalworking, etc.
Meander means "to wander aimlessly or casually" or "to follow a winding or intricate course." Meander comes from Greek Maiandros, an old name for a winding river in Asia Minor that is now known as the Menderes. Despite this origin, the word is more commonly used to refer to a person's wandering course than a river's.
Collaborate means "to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor." It can also mean "to cooperate with or willingly assist an enemy of one's country and especially an enemy who occupies it during a war." The Latin prefix com-, meaning "with, together, or jointly," is a bit of a chameleon—it has a tricky habit of changing its appearance depending on what it's next to. If the word it precedes begins with l, com- becomes col- (as in colleague, collect, and collide). In the case of collaborate, com- teamed up with laborare ("to labor") to form Late Latin collaborare ("to labor together").
Peremptory comes from Latin perimere, which means
"to take entirely" or "to destroy." The prefix per- means
"thoroughly," and emere means "to take." Implying the
removal of one's option to disagree or contest something, peremptory stays
close to its roots.
Yen, a strong desire, urge, or craving for something. Although yen suggests no more than a strong desire these days (as in "a yen for a beach vacation"), at one time someone with a yen was in deep trouble: the first meaning of yen was an intense craving for opium. The word comes from Cantonese yīn-yáhn, a combination of yīn, meaning "opium," and yáhn, "craving." In English, the Chinese syllables were translated as yen-yen.
Gorgonize: To paralyze, petrify, or hypnotize. After Gorgon, any of the three monstrous sisters in Greek mythology: Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. They had snakes for hair and turned into stone anyone who looked into their eyes (apparently it was OK to objectify people in those days). Earliest documented use: 1609
Nonchalant means "having an air of easy unconcern or indifference." Since nonchalant ultimately comes from words meaning "not" and "be warm," it's no surprise that the word is all about keeping one's cool. The French borrowing, nonchalant, has similar meaning and comes from Latin calēre, meaning "to be warm."
Candor: Candor
is "unreserved, honest, or sincere expression." Candor comes from
Latin candēre, meaning "to shine or glow." That origin is reflected
in the word's early uses referring to brightness or unstained purity and
innocence, which are the sources of today's familiar use of candor for
unquestionably honest expression.
Invincible means "incapable of being conquered,
overcome, or subdued."
Invincible comes from
Latin invincibilis—a combination of the negative prefix in- with the Latin verb
vincere, meaning "to conquer." Vincere also gave English vincible,
meaning (unsurprisingly) "capable of being overcome or subdued."
Transpire means "to happen" or "to become known." Transpire (based on Latin spirare, meaning "to breathe") was originally used technically to describe the passage of vapor through the pores of a membrane (such as the skin). From this use developed the figurative sense: "to escape from secrecy" or "to become known." That sense was used in ambiguous contexts and often meant "to happen" or "to take place."
Parable comes from the Latin word parabola, from Greek
parabolḗ, meaning "comparison." The word parabola may look familiar
if you remember your geometry. The mathematical parabola refers to a curve that
is shaped like the path of something that is thrown forward and high in the air
and falls back to the ground.
Utmost means "of the greatest or highest degree, quantity, number, or amount" or "situated at the farthest or most distant point." Utmost comes from Old English ūtmest, a superlative adjective formed from the adverb ūt, meaning "out." The earlier sense of utmost carries the same meaning as outermost.
Arbitrary means "determined, planned, or chosen seemingly at random or by chance."
Arbitrary comes from
Latin arbiter, which means "judge" and is the source of the English
arbiter. In English, arbitrary first meant "depending upon choice or
discretion" and was specifically used to indicate the sort of decision (as
for punishment) left up to the expert determination of a judge rather than
defined by law. Today, it can also be used for anything determined by or as if
by a personal choice or whim.
