All memos tagged #dictionary

romantic describes what belongs to love and courtship, and equally what belongs to the imagination rather than to fact — idealized, heightened, and not quite answerable to the world as it is. The...

persistence is the act of continuing in a course of action despite difficulty or opposition — and, by extension, the continuance of an effect after the cause that produced it is gone. The word...

Disinformation is false information deliberately and often covertly spread in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth. Deliberateness is what separates it from its two neighbors....

A callcast is a conversation recorded for the purpose of notation and, sometimes, for sharing — ad-libbed rather than formatted, and captured at a moment when the audience is not yet known. The term...

A wolf in sheep's clothing is an idiom of Biblical origin used to describe those playing a role contrary to their real character with whom contact is dangerous, particularly false teachers. The...

Malinformation is genuine, factually accurate information that is leaked, stripped of its original context, or timed to inflict harm — truth used as a weapon. The term was coined by Claire Wardle and...

scarcity is the quality or state of being scarce — a supply that falls short of what is wanted or needed, and in its oldest and sharpest sense a want of provisions for the support of life. The word...

science is knowledge of the natural world obtained through systematic observation, experiment, and reasoning — and, in a broader and older sense, any organized body of knowledge or a particular...

nature is the physical world and its forces considered apart from human works — and, in a sense at least as old and still fully live, the essential character or constitution of a thing or person....

Convey is to carry something from one place to another — a load, a signal, an idea — and, in law, to transfer title in property from one owner to another. At the core of the word is a road. It comes...

Motive is something — a need, a desire, an interest — that moves a person to act: the inward cause of a deed, as distinct from the deed itself. The word descends from Latin movere, "to move," through...

Manifesto is a written statement in which a person, group, or government publicly declares its intentions, motives, or views — issued to be read by everyone rather than addressed to anyone. The word...

antiquarian is one who collects or studies antiquities, and as a modifier describes what belongs to that pursuit — most familiarly the trade in old books, coins, maps, and objects. The noun appears...

Engine names a machine that converts energy into mechanical force and motion — and, more broadly, anything used to effect a purpose, from a railroad locomotive to a piece of software performing a...

Addiction is a compulsive, often uncontrollable dependence on a substance or behavior that persists despite harm — and, in an older and now largely obsolete sense, simply a strong inclination or...

evangelism is the spreading of a truth or principle through earnest advocacy and personal witness, and in a second recorded sense the militant or crusading zeal with which that spreading is carried...

Accountability is the condition of being answerable — obliged or willing to give an account of one's actions, decisions, and outcomes to someone with standing to ask. The word is a late arrival....

A spendthrift is a person who spends money improvidently or wastefully, often to the point where outlay climbs well beyond means. The word serves as an adjective in the same sense. As a modifier it...

Mindfulness is the practice of holding attention on the present moment with openness, curiosity, and non-judgment — and, by extension, the quality of awareness that practice produces. The word is...

aggregate is a whole formed by collecting separate units into one mass or sum — and the same word names the act of collecting them and the quality of having been collected. The word carries its...