Word of the Day

: January 18, 2016

eloquent

adjective EL-uh-kwunt

What It Means

1 : marked by forceful and fluent expression

2 : vividly or movingly expressive or revealing

eloquent in Context

Because Max is such an eloquent speaker, he was asked to give the toast at his grandfather's 75th birthday party.

"The governor waxed eloquent about growing up just a short distance away in Queens and what this part of the world meant to him." — Fred LeBrun, The Times-Union (Albany, New York), 15 Nov. 2015

Did You Know?

Since eloquent can have something to do with speaking, it makes sense that it comes from the Latin verb loqui, which means "to speak." Loqui is the parent of many "talkative" offspring in English. Loquacious, which means "given to fluent or excessive talk," also arose from loqui. Another loqui relative is circumlocution, a word that means someone is talking around a subject to avoid making a direct statement (circum- means "around"). And a ventriloquist is someone who makes his or her voice sound like it's coming from another source.