omniscient

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster

Arts, Literature, Language Courses, Education

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2024

⏱️ 2 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 29, 2024 is:

omniscient • \ahm-NISH-unt\ • adjective

Omniscient describes someone or something with unlimited knowledge or understanding.

// "You'll need to tell me when you don't understand something I've explained," Maria said. "I'm not omniscient, you know."

See the entry >

Examples:

"The Abrahamic faiths conceive of God as an omniscient creator and generally abjure gambling as a result; one of the first laws passed by the Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony banned the possession of cards, dice, or gaming tables." — Idrees Kahloon, The New Yorker, 2 Sept. 2024

Did you know?

One who is omniscient literally knows all. The word omniscient traces back to two Latin roots: omni-, meaning "all" or "universally," and the noun scientia, meaning "knowledge." You will recognize omni- as the prefix that tells all in such words as omnivorous ("eating all," or in actual use, "eating both plants and animals") and omnipotent ("all-powerful"). Scientia comes from the Latin verb scīre, meaning "to know," which likewise has a number of other knowledge-related descendants in English, including conscience, science, and prescience (meaning "foreknowledge").

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It's the Word of the Day podcast for October 29th.
0:10.0	Hey podcast listeners, have you heard, You can listen to your favorite podcast, Ad Free.
0:16.0	Good news. With Amazon Music, you have access to the largest catalog of Ad-free top podcasts
0:22.0	included with your Prime membership.
0:24.0	To start listening, download the Amazon Music app for free.
0:28.0	Or go to Amazon. co.
0:30.0	UK slash ad-free podcasts. That's Amazon.
0:33.4	Amazon.co.
0:34.6	UK slash ad-free podcasts to catch up on the latest episodes
0:39.2	without the ads.
0:40.6	Today's word is omniscient, spelled OSCE. the ads. It describes someone or something with unlimited knowledge or understanding.
0:55.0	Here's the word used in a sentence from the New Yorker by Idris Kaloon.
0:59.0	The Abrahamic faiths conceive of God as an omniscient Creator and generally abjure gambling as a result.
1:07.7	One of the first laws passed by the Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony banned the possession of cards, dice, or gaming tables.
1:17.0	One who is omniscient literally knows all.
1:20.0	The word omniscient traces back to two Latin roots,
1:23.5	Omni meaning all or universally,
1:25.5	and the noun scientia, meaning knowledge.
1:29.0	You'll recognize Omni as the prefix that tells all, in such words as omnivorous meaning eating all or
1:36.5	in actual use eating both plants and animals and omnipotent meaning all powerful
1:42.0	skiantia comes from the Latin verbs omnipotent, meaning all-powerful.
1:42.6	Skiantia comes from the Latin verb skyrae, meaning to know, which likewise has a number of
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Merriam-Webster, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Merriam-Webster and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.