amortize

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 1, 2026 is: amortize • \AM-er-tyze\  • verb To amortize something, such as a mortgage, is to pay for it by making regular payments over a long period of time. // If you apply extra payments directly to your loan balance as a principal reduction, your loan can be amortized sooner. See the entry > Examples: “As part of some of the league’s commercial deals—where companies pay the league for rights of some sort—the NFL has received equity or warrants. … The warrants are priced at fair market value on the date of vesting and amortized over 10 years.” — Jacob Feldman and Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico, 5 Aug. 2025 Did you know? When you amortize a loan, you figuratively “kill it off” by paying it down in installments, an idea reflected in the etymology of amortize. The word comes ultimately from a Latin word meaning “to kill” that was formed in part from the Latin noun mors, meaning “death”; it is related both to murder and a word naming a kind of loan that is usually amortized: mortgage. The original use of amortize dates to the 14th century, when amortizing was about transferring ownership of a property to a corporation, and especially to an ecclesiastical corporation—that is, a corporation consisting wholly of clergy. Such land was said to be in mortmain, which under the feudal system meant that the property was permanently exempt from a lord’s usual payment collections. Mortmain is of course another mors word. Its second syllable comes from Latin manus, meaning “hand,” the implication being that the property was held in the dead hand of a corporation—a hand incapable of paying out.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 31, 2025 is: retrospective • \reh-truh-SPEK-tiv\  • adjective Retrospective describes something that relates to the past or to something that happened in the past. // The museum has curated a retrospective exhibit of the artist's early works. See the entry > Examples: "Our retrospective sense of time hinges on memory: Periods rich in novel, significant experiences feel longer, while routine collapses duration ..." — Marc Wittmann, Psychology Today, 16 Nov. 2025 Did you know? At the year's end, both introspection and retrospection are common. While introspection involves looking inward and taking stock of oneself, retrospection is all about recollecting and contemplating things that happened in the past. A look back at the history of the related adjective retrospective reveals that it retains a strong connection to its past: its Latin source is retrospicere, meaning "to look back at." Retrospective can also be used as a noun referring to an exhibition that "looks back" at an artist's work created over a span of years. Once you have retrospective and retrospection behind you, you can also add their kin retrospect (most familiar in the phrase in retrospect to describe thinking about the past or something that happened in the past) and retro (usually meaning "fashionably nostalgic or old-fashioned") to your vocabulary, too.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 30, 2025 is: charisma • \kuh-RIZ-muh\  • noun Charisma refers to a special magnetic charm or appeal that causes people to feel attracted and excited by someone. A person with charisma is captivating and often admired. // The young singer has the kind of charisma that turns a performer into a star. See the entry > Examples: "Sports and showbiz have gone hand in hand since newsreels in the 1920s showcased the skills and charisma of Babe Ruth." — Carole Horst, Variety, 16 July 2025 Did you know? The Greek word charisma means "favor" or "gift." It comes from the verb charizesthai ("to favor"), which in turn comes from the noun charis, meaning "grace." In English, charisma was originally used in Christian contexts to refer to a gift or power bestowed upon an individual by the Holy Spirit for the good of the Church—a sense that is now very rare. These days, we use the word to refer to social, rather than divine, grace. For instance, a leader with charisma may easily gain popular support, and a job applicant with charisma may shine in an interview.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 29, 2025 is: nefarious • \nih-FAIR-ee-us\  • adjective Nefarious is a formal word that describes something as evil or immoral. // Authorities suspect that the recovered materials were going to be used for nefarious purposes. See the entry > Examples: “Introducing characters like Gorilla Grodd on DC Crime would help familiarize audiences with these figures before they potentially receive an expanded role in another project. Perhaps each season could focus on a different villain, highlighting their nefarious actions.” — Chris Agar, comicbook.com, 16 Nov. 2025 Did you know? If you need a fancy word to describe someone who’s up to no good, nefarious has got you (and them) covered. It’s also handy for characterizing the “no good” such a dastardly devil gets up to, as in “a nefarious business/plot/deed.” Nefarious is most often used for someone or something that is flagrantly wicked or corrupt—it’s more applicable to the mustache-twirling supervillain than the morally gray antihero. In other words, there’s no question that a nefarious scheme, or schemer, is not right. Etymologically, this makes perfect sense: nefarious can be traced back to the Latin noun nefas, meaning “crime,” which in turn combines ne- (“not”) and fas, meaning “right” or “divine law.” It is one of very few English words with this root, accompanied only by the likes of nefariousness and the thoroughly obscure nefast (“wicked”).

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 28, 2025 is: yen • \YEN\  • noun A yen is a strong desire, urge, or craving for something. // After dinner, the family went out for ice cream to satisfy their yen for something sweet. // Students with a yen to travel should consider studying abroad. See the entry > Examples: “If you’ve got a yen for succulent, right-off-the-boat Maine sea scallops, now is the time to get them.” — Stephen Rappaport, The Bangor Daily News, 26 Mar. 2025 Did you know? 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, used in the late 19th century, was an intense craving for opium. The word comes from yīn-yáhn, a combination of yīn, meaning “opium,” and yáhn, “craving,” in the Chinese language used in the province of Guangdong. In English, the Chinese syllables were translated as yen-yen, and eventually shortened to yen.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 27, 2025 is: apropos • \ap-ruh-POH\  • preposition Apropos is used as a preposition to mean "with regard to." It is frequently used in the phrase "apropos of." // Sean interrupted our conversation about politics and, apropos of nothing, asked who we thought would win the basketball game. As an adjective, apropos describes something that is suitable or appropriate, as in "an apropos nickname." See the entry > Examples: "Once, at the height of COVID, I dropped off a book at the home of Werner Herzog. I was an editor at the time and was trying to assign him a review, so I drove up to his gate in Laurel Canyon, and we had the briefest of masked conversations. Within 30 seconds, it turned strange. 'Do you have a dog? A little dog?' he asked me, staring out at the hills of Los Angeles, apropos of nothing. He didn't wait for an answer. 'Then be careful of the coyotes,' Herzog said." — Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 8 Jan. 2025 Did you know? Apropos wears its ancestry like a badge—or perhaps more fittingly a beret. From the French phrase à propos, meaning "to the purpose," the word's emphasis lands on its last syllable, which ends in a silent "s": \ap-ruh-POH\. Apropos typically functions as an adjective describing what is suitable or appropriate ("an apropos comment"), or as a preposition (with or without of) meaning "with regard to," as in "apropos (of) the decision, implementation will take some time." The phrase "apropos of nothing" is used to signal that what follows does not relate to any previous topic.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 26, 2025 is: grandiose • \gran-dee-OHSS\  • adjective Grandiose is usually used disapprovingly to describe something that seems impressive or is intended to be impressive, but that is either not possible or practical. // The long-vacant historic building has finally been purchased, and the developer has announced grandiose plans to make it the center of a new theater district. See the entry > Examples: “Henry [VIII] was a leader known for his grandiose presentation, a love of dramatic rhetoric and self-promotion, and a fondness for blaming others. He carefully curated his image, issuing official portraits and closely managing public appearances. His reign concentrated power in one man and his obsessions.” — Philippa Gregory, LitHub.com, 29 Oct. 2025 Did you know? When it comes to bigness, there’s grand and then there’s grandiose. Both words can be used to describe something impressive in size, scope, or effect, but while grand may lend its noun a bit of dignity (i.e., “we had a grand time”), grandiose often implies a whiff of pretension. The difference between a grand plan for the city park and a grandiose one, for example, might be the difference between a tasteful fountain and a garden full of topiaries cut in the shapes of 19th century literary figures. So if you’re choosing between the two, a helpful mnemonic might be that the extra letters in grandiose suggest that one’s ideas, claims, promises, schemes, dreams—you get the idea—are a bit extra.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 25, 2025 is: noel • \noh-EL\  • noun When capitalized, Noel refers to Christmas or the Christmas season. Uncapitalized, noel refers to a Christmas carol. // We were greeted at the door by a group of carolers singing noels. // Every year we send our family Christmas cards with our photo enclosed wishing everyone a joyous Noel. See the entry > Examples: “The meeting began with a touch of holiday spirit as members of the Woodland Park High School Madrigals sang three selections. The first was a Noel song with a medieval/renaissance feel that was well matched to their festive costumes. They followed with the popular ‘Carol of the Bells’ and ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas.’” — Doug Fitzgerald, The Pikes Peak (Colorado) Courier, 9 Dec. 2024 Did you know? English speakers borrowed noel from the French word noël, which is also used for both the Christmas holiday and a Christmas carol. It can be traced further back to the Latin word natalis, which can mean “birthday” as a noun or “of or relating to birth” as an adjective. (The English adjective natal has the same meaning and is also an offspring of natalis.) Noels were being sung in Latin and French for centuries before English-speakers started using the word to refer to Christmas carols in the 18th century. An early use of noel (spelled Nowel) to mean “Christmas” can be found in the text of the late 14th-century Arthurian legend Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 24, 2025 is: hark back • \HAHRK-BAK\  • verb Harking back can be about turning back to an earlier topic or circumstance, as in "a storyteller harking back to his youth," or it can be about going back to something as an origin or source, as in "a style that harks back to the turn of the previous century." // The dinner conversation harked back to the lunch debate over what counts as a traditional holiday meal. // The diner's interior decor harks back to the 1950s. See the entry > Examples: "The single harks back to Chenier's heyday when his music was produced on 45s and put into jukeboxes, says [Maureen] Loughran." — Alicia Ault, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2025 Did you know? Hark, a very old word meaning "to listen," was used as a cry in hunting. The master of the hunt might cry "Hark! Forward!" or "Hark! Back!" The cries became set phrases, both as nouns and verbs. Thus, a "hark back" was a retracing of a route by dogs and hunters, and to "hark back" was to turn back along the path. From its use in hunting, the verb acquired its current figurative meanings concerned with returning to the past. The variants hearken and harken (also very old words meaning "to listen") are also used, with and without back, as synonyms of hark back.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 23, 2025 is: bespoke • \bih-SPOHK\  • adjective Bespoke describes something that is custom-made—that is, made to fit the needs or requirements of a particular person. // As a tailor, Lana specialized in crafting bespoke clothing for her clients, each piece unique and suited to their tastes. See the entry > Examples: “The vehicles are bespoke machines with every little detail thought of, from embroidered seats to custom floor mats to retro paint jobs.” — Charlie Berrey, SlashGear.com, 10 Nov. 2025 Did you know? In the English language of yore, the verb bespeak had various meanings, including “to speak,” “to accuse,” and “to complain.” In the 16th century, bespeak acquired another meaning: “to order.” It is from that sense that we get the adjective bespoke, referring to clothes and other things that are ordered before they are made. Bespoke has enjoyed a spike in usage in recent years, perhaps due to consumer trends that champion all things artisanal over those that are prefab.