Today's Word

Quaff

KWAHF

Definition

(verb/noun) To drink something heartily or in large gulps.

Example

After the long hike, they quaffed cold water straight from their canteens.

Word Origin

Late 16th century: origin uncertain, possibly imitative of the sound of drinking deeply, or potentially from obsolete German “quassen” meaning “to overindulge in food or drink.”

Fun Fact

Quaff carries a jovial, celebratory connotation that “drink” simply doesn’t capture. You don’t quaff medicine or sip tea delicately—you quaff ale at a tavern, mead at a feast, or cold lemonade on a hot day. The word appears frequently in fantasy literature and medieval settings, giving it an almost theatrical quality. Shakespeare used it multiple times, and it remains the preferred verb for describing how Vikings, pirates, and adventurers consume their beverages. Modern craft beer enthusiasts have embraced “quaff” to describe easy-drinking, sessionable beers meant for enthusiastic consumption rather than careful contemplation.

Previous Words

Efficacious

Today's Word

Efficacious

ef-ih-KAY-shus

Definition

(adjective) Capable of producing the desired result; successful in achieving the intended outcome.

Example

The new treatment proved remarkably efficacious in clinical trials, reducing symptoms in over ninety percent of patients within the first two weeks.

Word Origin

Efficacious derives from the Latin efficax, meaning “powerful” or “effectual,” rooted in efficere — “to bring about” or “to accomplish” — built from ex- (“out”) and facere (“to make” or “to do”). The same root gives us effect, efficient, and efficacy — a family of words all built around the idea of something being done and producing a result. It entered English in the 16th century, used predominantly in medical and philosophical contexts to describe remedies or arguments that actually worked.

Fun Fact

The history of medicine is largely a history of distinguishing the efficacious from the merely plausible. For centuries, bloodletting was considered one of the most efficacious treatments available — practiced by physicians from ancient Greece through the 19th century for conditions ranging from fever to mental illness. George Washington died in 1799 partly as a result of aggressive bloodletting performed by his own doctors in response to a throat infection. It wasn’t until the rise of controlled clinical trials in the 20th century that medicine developed reliable tools for separating treatments that actually worked from treatments that merely seemed to — a distinction efficacious had been waiting two thousand years for medicine to catch up with.

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Quaff

Definition

Example

Word Origin

Previous Words

Efficacious

Efficacious

Definition

Example

Word Origin

Efficacious

Penurious

Unctuous

Adumbrate

Lurid