السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته،
يسرني أن أوافي الواتاويين بكلمتي هذا اليوم.
استفادة طيبة والسلام عليكم.

Nonplus (verb)
Pronunciation: [nahn-'plês]

Definition: To place someone at a loss as to what to say, do, or think.

Usage: The state of being at a complete loss for a response is also called "nonplus," so one can be at a nonplus or be brought to one by the actions of someone else. We also often say that we are "nonplussed" by something. (This is another orphan negative, which means you cannot "plus" anyone by raising their consciousness.)

Suggested Usage: This is a state the events of the day bring us to all the more often, so we should prepare ourselves to use it properly. Do you know what to say on occasions such as this: "Frieda nonplussed the whole family when she parachuted into the backyard during Dad's birthday party." My friend Shirley came to a complete nonplus at Roland's response to her question whether he liked cheap wine. "I didn't know sheep gave wine," he said.

Etymology: The etymology is very simple though its semantic improbability leaves many etymologists, well, nonplussed. It is from Latin non "not" + plus "more" via the 17th century French phrase mettre a nonplus "to put at nonplus." "Plus" comes from the same root (*pel-/*pol-) as plenus "full" from which we borrowed "plenty." This root came to English as "full" and German as "voll." In Russian the same root emerges as polny "full."



–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

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Rhabdomancy (noun)
Pronunciation: ['ræb-dê-mæn-see]

Definition: Divination of the location of water, oil, etc. by means of a divining rod or stick; dowsing, witch-wiggling.

Usage: A diviner, dowser, or witch-wiggler is a rhabdomancer, though it is doubtful that any such would recognize the word. "Witch-wiggler" comes from the fact that contemporary rhabdomancers prefer a Y-shaped branch of a witch hazel tree, the branches of which are held in each hand while the dowser walks about until the branch begins "wiggling" on its own, indicating the location of the desired object or substance.

Suggested Usage: Rhabdomancy is a technique for finding what is difficult to discover or uncover, "When there's work to be done, we need rhabdomancy to find Buzzy." However, it is most closely associated with the discovery of liquid: "I've tried everything short of rhabdomancy to find something to drink in this house! Are we totally dry?"

Etymology: From Greek rhabdomanteia based on rhabdos "rod" + manteia "divination." The Proto-Indo-European root is *werb- or *werbh- "to turn, bend" that also developed into "warp" and "wrap." Other variants of this stem underlie "rhapsody" from Greek rhapsôidia based on rhapsis "stitching together" (from rhaptein "to sew") + oide "song, ode" + ia, a noun suffix. The suffix -mancy comes from Late Latin -mantia inherited from Greek manteia "divination." This relates today's word with an earlier Word of the Day, gastromancy "divination by means of stomach rumblings." They can cause a bit of wiggling, too.


–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com