The Words of the Week - Jan 6

‘Archnemesis’

Archnemesis was among our top lookups last week, after it was revealed that the word was recently used in a book by a British prince to describe his brother, also a British prince.

In Spare, Harry Calls William “His Beloved Brother and Archnemesis”
— (headline) Vanity Fair, 5 Jan. 2023

Archnemesis is largely synonymous with archrival, a word we define as “a principal rival.” Arch-, when used in this manner, carries the meaning of “chief” or “most fully embodying the qualities of the kind.” The second portion of the word, nemesis, has changed its meaning over the 500 or so years that it has been in English use. The earliest sense of nemesis was simply the name of the Greek goddess of retributive justice. After this it took on the additional meaning of “one that inflicts retribution or vengeance,” and after that added the sense “a formidable and usually victorious rival or opponent.” If you are unlucky enough to have multiple people who you consider to be your archnemesis it may be useful to know that the plural of this word is archnemeses.

‘Bomb cyclone’ & ‘Bombogenesis’

A series of meteorological events last week sent a number of weather-related words spiking in lookups, including bomb cyclone and bombogenesis.

As the system arrived, many areas will also be confronted with the effects of a bomb cyclone: The powerful system was seen "undergoing bombogenesis" off California's northern coast, the NWS office in Sacramento said, referring to the rapid intensification of a midlatitude cyclone.
— Bill Chappell & Ayana Archie, NPR, 5 Jan. 2023

Bomb cyclone is a meteorological term, meaning “a powerful, rapidly intensifying storm associated with a sudden and significant drop in atmospheric pressure.” Bombogenesis is defined as “rapid intensification of a storm caused by a sudden and significant drop in atmospheric pressure : the development or intensification of a bomb cyclone." In case you were wondering if the initial portion of bombogenesis is related to the ‘things that go boom’ sense of bomb, the answer is yes. The word is formed by adding bomb to genesis (“the origin or coming into being of something”) with the -o- affix holding them together.

‘Atmospheric river’

Another meteorological term that had greatly increased use last week was atmospheric river, after sections of the American West saw significant amounts of rainfall.

Latest 'atmospheric river' storm renews flood threat in California
— (headline) Reuters, 4 Jan. 2023

An atmospheric river, when used in a technical manner, has nothing to do with the vibe that pervades an earthbound stream of water; we define it as “a concentrated band of water vapor that flows through the atmosphere and that is a significant part of the global hydrologic cycle and an important source of regional precipitation.” The hydrologic cycle, for those who wonder about such things, is “the sequence of conditions through which water passes from vapor in the atmosphere through precipitation upon land or water surfaces and ultimately back into the atmosphere as a result of evaporation and transpiration.”

‘Disarray’ & 'Speaker’

A number of words were used repeatedly in describing the failed efforts of the House of Representatives to elect a new leader for the current legislative session of that body; among the more polite ones were disarray and speaker.

The Hill’s Morning Report — House GOP is stuck and in disarray
— (headline) The Hill, 4 Jan. 2023

McCarthy fails for 3rd long day in GOP House speaker fight
— (headline) Associated Press, 5 Jan. 2023

Disarray, when used as a noun, means “ a lack of order or sequence” or “disorderly dress”; as a verb it means “to throw into disorder” or “to undress.” The word comes from the Middle English disaray, meaning "disorder, broken military formation.”

In the context seen above speaker means “the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly.” The word has a number of additional meanings, most of which are concerned with a person who uses vocal language (such as “one that speaks,” “one who makes a public speech,” “one who acts as a spokesman for others”).

Words Worth Knowing: ‘Objectee’

Our word worth knowing this week is objectee, defined as “one that is objected to.” The -ee noun suffix (meaning “recipient or beneficiary of a specified action,” or “person that performs a specified action“) may be found at the tail end of many similar English words, including nominee (“a person named or proposed for an office, duty, or position”), contestee (“one whose election is contested”), and evictee (“one that is evicted”).