-ity

(Latin: suffix used to form abstract nouns expressing act, state, quality, property, or condition corresponding to an adjective)

sensitivity (s) (noun), sensitivities (pl)
1. A tendency of a person to become upset about things that are done or said about him or her: Samuel was surprised by Silvia's extreme sensitivity about even the smallest suggestions that he made so she could successfully complete her class assignment.
2. An awareness and understanding of the feelings of other people: The police chief cautioned his officers about interviewing accident victims with sensitivity because they were already upset and fearful.

As a teacher, Mrs. White has shown a great sensitivity to the needs of her students.

3. The ability to express one's thoughts and feelings through writing, music, drama, etc.: Geraldine's singing is characterized by a rich emotional sensitivity that many appreciate very much.
sensuality (s) (noun), sensualities (pl)
A desire to have physical pleasures: James has a sensuality for fine wine and delicious food.

Brian's brother has an excessive sensuality for eating and that is why he is called a glutton and is overweight.

sentimentality (s) (noun), sentimentalities (pl)
The quality or condition of being very emotional, especially in a superficial or maudlin way: The sentimentality that was expressed in the play caused many people in the audience to wipe away their tears because they couldn't control themselves.
septicity (s) (noun), septicities (pl)
1. The quality or condition of having a blood toxemia or poisoning: Allison was astonished that she developed septicity from a little scratch on her finger.
2. A substance that promotes disintegration: To speed up the process of decomposition in the septic tank, Mr. Evans, the engineer, added a scientific mixture of septicities or substances that promote decaying which is developed by bacterial or fungal actions.
serendipity (s) (noun), serendipities (pl)
1. A talent for achieving desirable results when they are not expected to take place: Mr. Jonas appeared to have a talent for serendipity when he was doing a project in the chemistry lab, because he often made surprising discoveries unexpectedly when he was working on something else.

It was pure serendipity that the group found a water well when they were hiking in the desert.

2. An unexpected success in achieving a pleasant, valuable, or useful result: For a moment, Sally's mother thought she had achieved a serendipity because, while she was digging in the garden, a fountain of water suddenly shot up; however, unfortunately she had only punctured a buried water pipe.
3. An apparent ability for producing some fortunate consequences: Leonore was boiling peaches and suddenly exclaimed, "I must possess serendipity because I've invented peach jam".
4. Etymology: Serendip, Serendib, former name for Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka); from Arabic Sarandib plus English -ity; from the possession of the gift by the heroes of the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip who "were always making discoveries, unexpectedly by accident and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of".
Accidentally making fortunate discoveries.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

Serendipity has become a significant word entry in English vocabulary!

The term made its first American dictionary appearance in Webster's New International Dictionary in 1909 and has often been linked with "an accidental or chance discovery".

It was in the 1930s when Walter Cannon of Harvard Medical School used the word to refer to the phenomenon of accidental discovery in scientific research. Then in 1946, sociologist Robert K. Merton and the historian Elinor Barber in The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity: A Study in Sociological Semantics and the Sociology of Science presented the concept of the "serendipity pattern" in empirical research, "of observing an unanticipated, anomalous, and strategic datum, which becomes the occasion for developing a new theory."

—Compiled from information located in
Webster's Word Histories; Merriam-Webster, Inc., Publishers:
Springfield, Massachusetts; 1989; page 419.

"I once read a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of: for instance, one of them discovered that a mule blind of the right eye had travelled the same road lately, because the grass was eaten only on the left side, where it was worse than on the right—now do you understand serendipity?"

—From W.S. Lewis, Warren Hunting Smith, George Lam (editors),
Horace Walpole's Correspondence with Sir Horace Mann;
Yale University Press; 1969.

Serendipity is finding what you want when you don't want it by looking where it wouldn't be if you did want it.

—Evan Esar
sesquipedality (s) (noun), sesquipedalities (pl)
The practice of using abnormally long words: "The famous orators, who were famous for their sesquipedalties, engaged in verbal debates as they tried to use longer words than their opponents."
soliloquacious (adjective) (not comparable)
Referring to a person who talks or speaks to herself or himself: Jane was quite soliloquacious in the bathroom and was holding a monologue regardless of the rest of her family listening outside the bathroom door!

In Shakespeare's play "To be or not to be?", Hamlet held a solilquacious speech telling the audience what he was thinking.

sorority (s), sororities (pl) (nouns)
1. A body or company of women united for some common objective; especially, for devotional purposes; in the U.S., the female section of a church congregation.
2. A women's society in a college or university.
3. A group of women or girls joined together by common interests, for fellowship, etc.; specifically, a Greek-letter college or university organization.
subacidity (s) (noun) (no pl)
Something that is slightly acid: Roy's doctor told him that he had a condition of subacidity, or a deficiency of acid in the gastric juices of his stomach, perhaps caused by eating more flesh-foods than was good for him.
superfecundity (s) (noun), superfecundities (pl)
Fertility that is more abundant than normal.
superfluity
1. Something beyond what is necessary.
2. An excessive or overabundant supply of something.
synchronicity (s) (noun), synchronicities (pl)
The phenomenon of events which coincide in time and appear meaningfully related but have no discoverable causal connection: The synchronicity of Grace and Mary giving birth to their baby gils almost at the same time, and both naming their baby girls Jenifer with one "n", was quite remarkable!
temerity (s) (noun), temerities (pl)
1. Foolhardy contempt for or disregard of danger; recklessness; rashness: The plan to ride across the desert by camel showed a remarkable temerity on the part of the explorer.
2. Reckless confidence that might be considered to be rude or offensive: No one had the temerity, or audacity, to challenge the senior manager's decision.
3. Etymology: from Middle French témérité; from Latin temeritatem, temeritas, "blind chance, accident, rashness"; from Latin temere, "by chance, blindly, casually, rashly"; related to tenebrae, "darkness".
Rashly unreasonable in the face of danger.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Irrational disregard for a dangerous move.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

The elaborate caution with which the British commander now proceeded stands out in striking contrast with the temerity of his advance upon Bunker Hill in the preceding year.

—John Fiske, "Washington's Great Campaign of 1776",
The Atlantic, January, 1989.

Drivers with the temerity to accelerate out of turns are likely to encounter torque steer, an unsettling glitch in control as the engine fights to take charge of the steering.

—Peter Passell, "Mitsubishi Diamante: Back From Down Under",
New York Times, February 23, 1997.
temerosity
Excessive boldness; rashness; foolhardiness, recklessness.
tenacity (noun), tenacities (pl)
The determination to remain firm, physically and mentally; to a decision, a plan, an opinion, or a purpose without doubting that it is the right thing to do: Despite many years of dedication, the lexicographer continues to show his tenacity by working on his special dictionary until it is either completed or as close to being finished as possible before he departs from this world.
A quality of being able to hold on firmly.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.