later-, lateral-, -late, -lat, -lation, -lative

One who makes laws for a people or nation; a lawgiver; a member of a legislative body.

A high-ranking clergyman having authority over lower members of the holy orders: A prelate is normally a bishop, cardinal, or abbot and such a position is in both Catholic and Protestant religions.

Primarily, a theory developed by Albert Einstein which states that the way anything, except light, moves through time and space depends on the position and movement of the person who is observing or watching it: "Relativity is considered to be the dependence of various physical phenomena on the comparative motions of the observer and the objects that are seen; especially, regarding the nature and behavior of light, space, time, and gravity."

1. To form a thought or theory on the basis of incomplete facts or information and to think over possibilities: People are speculating on the probable causes for the unexpected resignation of the mayor this morning.
2. To engage in or to take risks with financial transactions; such as, commodity trading that has an element of risk; especially, in the short term, with the hope of making a profit: Marla's uncle used to be wealthy; but when he speculated on the wrong stock, he lost most of his money.
3. To consider or to discuss why something has happened or what might happen: Irwin was speculating on whether his stomach ache was caused by the three pieces of chocolate cake that he ate or if he caught a flu bug on the subway when he was going home. © ALL rights are reserved.

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1. A reference to the highest quality of something that is surpassing all others: Monroe had superlative technical advice when he was asked to show Jim how to use his new computer.
2. In grammar, pertaining to, or noting the highest degree of the comparison of adjectives and adverbs: Here are examples of words that show superlative forms:

• small = smallest
• good = best
• carefully = most carefully

3. Exceeding what is normal; such as, exceptional language or style: Karin's superlative manner of dressing and speaking was admired by her friends because she got along so well with everyone and her appearance was very attractive.
4. Descriptive of an individual or something that is considered to be one of the best: Bill's superlative acting abilities made the drama much more successful.
5. The utmost degree: Ted's new car was described as the most superlative model in its class because no other vehicle had such a high degree of quality! © ALL rights are reserved.

Did you notice that the image above indicates that it is identified as an adjective; however, isn't the speaker using it as if it were a noun?

© ALL rights are reserved.

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

In an exceptionally good way or of the highest quality and in the greatest possible way.

1. Possible of being changed or put into another language: Mrs. Smith gave her students easily translatable German texts to work on and reword in English for their homework.
2. Susceptible of being converted or reconstructed into another substance; transformable: The ideas that Jim had could be translatable into a real tangible and useful device, and so he wrote all his ideas down!

1. To change or transfer from one set of symbols to another: Henry agreed to translate the document from German into English for Marilyn.

George, can you translate this list of measurements from Imperial measurements into Metric measurements, please?

2. To move or to change either a physical location or the appearance of something: The king agreed to translate his court from the city to the country estate of his friend.

Mark's friend slowly started to translate from being a simple country boy into an active city guy.

3. To explain or to interpret: Mary, would you like Mark to translate that complicated legal document into plain English?