- Today's Word
Quotidian
kwoh-TID-ee-uhn
Definition
- (adjective) Happening every day; ordinary or routine.
Example
Though quotidian, her morning coffee ritual brought her immense comfort.
Fun Fact
“Quotidian” comes from the Latin quotidianus, meaning “daily.” While it often describes mundane routines, many writers and philosophers celebrate the beauty of everyday life. The poet William Wordsworth found inspiration in quotidian moments, turning simple walks and ordinary people into powerful poetry. In psychology, mindfulness practices encourage people to appreciate the quotidian rather than overlook it.
(noun/verb) A gentle, continuous murmuring sound made by water or a person speaking rapidly and excitedly.
The hikers followed the burble of the stream through the dense forest long before they could see it, the sound guiding them toward water and rest.
Burble is an example of onomatopoeia — a word whose sound imitates the thing it describes. It emerged in Middle English as an imitative word for the sound of bubbling or gurgling water, related to the Old French borboiller, meaning “to bubble.” Lewis Carroll famously used it in Jabberwocky — “the Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, came whiffling through the tulgey wood, and burbled as it came” — cementing its place in the English literary imagination as a word that sounds exactly like what it means.