Word Of The Day. 8/13/12-8/17/12

1. Fallow
   

1.

Not in use; inactive: My creative energies have lain fallow this year.

2.

(Of land) plowed and left unseeded for a season or more; uncultivated.

noun:

1.

Land that has undergone plowing and harrowing and has been left unseeded for one or more growing seasons.

verb:

1.

To make (land) fallow for agricultural purposes.

Origin:

Fallow  comes from the Old English word fælging  from the tool that was used to break up clods of dirt.

The fields lay fallow in the winter.

2. Aseptic
1.

free from the living germs of disease, fermentation, or putrefaction.

noun

2.

a product, as milk or fruit juice, that is marketed in an aseptic package or container.

3.

aseptics, ( used with a singular verb ) a system of packaging sterilized products in airtight containers so that freshness is preserved for several months.

Origin: 1855–60; a-⁶ + septic

Hospital succeeded in lowering the mortality rate as soon as they introduced aseptic conditions.

  3. Concatenate

1.

To link together; unite in a series or chain.

adjective:

1.

Linked together, as in a chain.

Origin:

Concatenate  stems from the Latin word concatēnātus  meaning "to link together."

The input files are concatenated into a single long file.

 4. Belletristic

1.

Related to literature regarded as a fine art, especially as having a purely aesthetic function.

Origin:

Belletristic  is derived from the imported French phrase belles-lettres , which literally means "fine letters." It entered English in the early 1700s.

5. Phthisis

1.

A wasting away.

2.

Pulmonary tuberculosis; consumption.

Origin:

Phthisis  comes from the Greek root phthí  which meant "to decay."

He was found to be also suffering from chronic phthisis.