- Today's Word
Daunting
[DAWN-ting]
Definition
- (adjective) Something that appears overwhelming, intimidating, or difficult to deal with. It refers to challenges or situations that seem formidable enough to discourage one from proceeding or attempting them.
Example
The first-year medical student found the massive anatomy textbook daunting, wondering how she would ever memorize all the complex terminology.
Fun Fact
“Daunting” comes from the Middle English word “daunten,” which derived from the Latin “domitare,” meaning “to tame or subdue.” Originally, the word was used in medieval falconry to describe the process of breaking a wild bird’s spirit to train it for hunting. This specific falconry usage evolved from describing the taming of birds to describing anything that might break one’s spirit or courage. Interestingly, in medieval warfare, armies would use “daunting tactics” – psychological warfare techniques designed to intimidate opponents before battle, such as making excessive noise or displaying elaborate formations. The word gained broader usage during the Age of Exploration, when travelers would describe “daunting landscapes” they encountered in unknown territories. Today, while it’s lost its connection to falconry and warfare, it remains one of the most precise words in English for describing challenges that test one’s courage and determination without necessarily being impossible to overcome.
(noun) An excessive amount of something, often to the point of disgust or discomfort.
The holiday season left him with a surfeit of goodwill and absolutely no energy — too many parties, too many conversations, too many people he genuinely liked but couldn’t face for one more evening.
Surfeit derives from the Old French surfait, meaning “excess,” built from sur- (“over” or “above”) and faire (“to do”) — literally “overdone.” It entered English in the 14th century, initially used almost exclusively in medical contexts to describe the physical consequences of overeating or overdrinking — conditions so common in medieval feast culture that physicians had developed elaborate treatments for them. Over time it broadened into its modern sense of any excess so overwhelming it tips from pleasure into discomfort.