balmy
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What is the definition and pronunciation of the word “balmy”?
It's the word of the day for August 19th. Today's word is balmy, also pronounced balmy and spelled B-A-L-M-Y. Balmy is an adjective. It's often used to describe weather that is warm, calm, and pleasant. It can also be used to describe someone or something, such as an idea, that is foolish or irrational.
How is “balmy” used in everyday sentences and examples?
Here's the word used in a sentence from The Sun of Elizabethtown, New York. Everyone is encouraged to bring chairs, snacks, and coolers, and remember the flashlights for the walk back to the parking lot. Leashed dogs are welcome, too. These evenings are all about enjoying good music on a balmy summer night. Aromatic ointments and fragrances are the balm. They are also literally balms, B-A-L-M-S, healing substances and soothing scents with the power to ease both mind and body.
What is the historical origin of “balmy” and its connection to balm and balsam?
The original balm, what Latin speakers referred to as balsamum, was the oleoresin of a species of balsam tree. In Anglo-French, balsamum became balm and boom, spellings which entered Middle English and later became balm, B-A-L-M. Balm eventually begat the adjective balmy, used to describe things with a balm's comforting, calming qualities, as when Shakespeare's Othello speaks of balmy slumbers. Today, balmy is typically used to describe the weather, balmy breezes, balmy temperatures, balmy spring afternoons. Conditions that are neither too hot nor too cold, but just right. Goldilocks conditions, even.
Why is “balmy” mainly used to describe weather and “Goldilocks” conditions today?
With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. Visit Merriam-Webster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the definition and pronunciation of the word “balmy”?
0:06–0:30
2
How is “balmy” used in everyday sentences and examples?
0:30–1:05
3
What is the historical origin of “balmy” and its connection to balm and balsam?
1:05–1:50
4
Why is “balmy” mainly used to describe weather and “Goldilocks” conditions today?
1:50–2:02