- Today's Word
Multifarious
mul-tuh-FAIR-ee-uhs
Definition
- (adjective) Having great variety or diversity; numerous and varied.
Example
The multifarious talents of the artist ranged from painting to composing music and designing sculptures.
Fun Fact
“Multifarious” stems from the Latin multifarius, meaning “having many parts.” It has been used in English since the 17th century to emphasize variety and richness. The term is often employed to highlight the complexity of ideas, cultures, or individual abilities.
(adjective) Tending to cry easily or frequently; having a mournful or tearful quality that evokes sadness.
The lachrymose eulogy left barely a dry eye in the room, not because it was maudlin but because every word of it was simply and devastatingly true.
Lachrymose derives from the Latin lacrima, meaning “tear,” which itself traces back to the Greek dakryma. The same root gives us lachrymal — the medical term for the tear ducts and glands responsible for producing tears — making lachrymose one of the rare words that bridges everyday emotion and clinical anatomy in a single syllable. It entered English in the 17th century, used initially in literary and poetic contexts to describe writing or music with an overwhelming quality of sadness.