It's Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 6th.

Today's word is Plangent, spelled PLANG-G-N-G-G-G-P-N-T-P-N-G-E-T-T is an adjective.

Something such as a sound that is described as Plangent is loud, deep, and often expressive of sadness or suffering.

The word is a synonym of plaintive.

Here's the word used in a sentence from the New York Times by Giovanni Rusinello. Ajua sings in a Jivani Rusinello.

Ajua sings in a keening plangent tone,

but at one point he pauses to offer a spoken invitation.

Listen to the wind, he says. the voice is calling you from yesterday.

Plangent adds power to our poetry and prose, the pounding of waves, the beat of wings, the tolling of a bell, the throbbing of the human heart, a lover's

knocking at the door, all have been described as Plangent. The word Plangent traces back to the

Latin verb Plangaree, which has two meanings. The first of those

meanings to strike or beat was sometimes used by Latin speakers in reference to striking

one's breast in grief. This led to the verb's second meaning to lament.

The sense division carried over to the Latin adjective Plengen's and then into English, giving us two distinct meanings of

Plangent, pounding, as in the Plangent roar of waves, and expressive of woe grief or

melancholy. Like its synonym plaintiff,

Plangent is often used to describe sounds from bittersweet melodies to the

whales of mourners evoking deep and heartfelt sadness.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.

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