- Today's Word
Vexillologist
[vek-sil-LOL-uh-jist]
Definition
- (noun) A person who studies flags and their meanings, designs, and histories. Vexillology is the scholarly study of flags, and those who engage in this field are known as vexillologists.
Example
As a passionate vexillologist, Maria could spend hours analyzing the symbolism and historical significance behind the flags of different nations and organizations.
Fun Fact
The term “vexillology” was coined in 1957 by American scholar Whitney Smith, who derived it from the Latin word “vexillum,” meaning a flag or banner, and the Greek suffix “-logia,” denoting a field of study. Smith, who is considered the father of modern vexillology, founded the Flag Research Center in Winchester, Massachusetts, and helped establish the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) in 1967. One of the most famous vexillologists in history was Dr. William Crampton, a British scholar who wrote extensively on the subject and helped design the flags of several British colonies and territories. Today, vexillology continues to attract enthusiasts and scholars from around the world, who study the art, science, and history behind the flags that represent nations, states, cities, and organizations.
(adjective) Lacking substance, interest, or mature thought; naive and simplistic in a way that reveals inexperience.
The critic dismissed the debut novel as jejune — competently written, technically adequate, and utterly devoid of anything worth remembering.
Jejune derives from the Latin jejunus, meaning “fasting” or “empty” — literally describing a stomach that has not been fed. The same root gives us jejunum, the section of the small intestine named for its tendency to be found empty after death. It entered English in the 17th century carrying its literal sense of emptiness before acquiring its figurative meaning of something intellectually or creatively hollow — content that has the form of nourishment without any of the substance.