in-KOH-it
The inchoate plan lacked specifics but hinted at an innovative new direction.
Fun Fact
“Inchoate” comes from the Latin inchoare, meaning “to begin.” It’s often used in legal contexts (like an inchoate crime) or in creative and scientific fields when an idea is still forming. Think of a sketch before it becomes a painting or a startup’s rough pitch before full launch.
truh-VAYL
(verb/noun) Painful or laborious effort; hard and exhausting work.
After months of travail, the research team finally achieved a breakthrough in their experiments.
Middle English: from Old French “travail,” from “travailler” meaning “to toil,” ultimately from Latin “trepalium,” a torture instrument made of three stakes.
Fun Fact
Travail’s connection to a torture device reflects just how grueling the word implies work to be—this isn’t mere effort, it’s agonizing labor. Historically, “travail” was also the specific term for the pains of childbirth, considered among the most intense physical ordeals a person could endure. While “travel” and “travail” share the same medieval root (journeys were once exhausting, dangerous ordeals), modern travel has become comfortable enough that we split them into separate words. Yet travail remains in our vocabulary precisely for those moments when work feels less like a journey and more like torture.
Today's Word Remunerate rih-MYOO-nuh-rayt Definition (verb) To pay someone for...
Read More