adjective
promoting or conducive to some beneficial purpose; wholesome.
Salutary ultimately comes from Latin 蝉补濒奴蝉 (inflectional stem 蝉补濒奴迟-) 鈥渉ealth, welfare, safety.鈥 In its sense of 鈥減romoting or conducive to some beneficial purpose; wholesome,鈥 salutary entered English in the late 1400s. Salutary, in its sense of 鈥渇avorable to or promoting health; healthful,鈥 emerged in the mid-1600s. A synonym for salutary (鈥渉ealthful鈥) is salubrious, which is also rooted in Latin 蝉补濒奴蝉. 厂补濒奴蝉 could also mean 鈥済reeting,鈥 as in greeting someone with 鈥渂est wishes (for their well-being).鈥 This meaning of 蝉补濒奴蝉 gave rise to the verb 蝉补濒奴迟腻谤别 鈥渢o greet, hail,鈥 source of the English noun and verb salute.
After Gutenberg, books became widely available, setting off a cascade of salutary movements and innovations, including but not limited to the Reformation, the Enlightenment, the steam engine, journalism, modern literature, modern medicine, and modern democracy.
However salutary these tactics may be with regard to the evaporation of the national debt in the countries just mentioned, the fact is nevertheless incontestable that the gold mentality of the world remains unaffected.
adjective
Informal.
of little value or account; small; trifling: a picayune amount.
In the early 1800s in Louisiana, Florida, and other Southern U.S. states, the noun picayune designated a coin equal to a Spanish half-real, which was worth a mere six-and-one-quarter cents. Picayune comes from Proven莽al picaioun (compare French picaillons 鈥渕oney鈥), a type of copper coin from the historical region of Savoy in southeastern France. While the picayune, as currency, fell out of circulation in the U.S., the word picayune did not. Picayune鈥攐n the basis of the coin鈥檚 paltry sum鈥攅xtended as an adjective meaning 鈥渙f little value or account; small; trifling.鈥 The name of the former coin also survives in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, which cost one picayune when the newspaper was established (as The Picayune) in 1837.
The point is less to dwell on the picayune details of what was once known as the 鈥渂rowser wars鈥 than to show how hard it is to escape the hold these companies鈥 ecosystems have on our lives.
“My client is determined to have his day in court.” “But why?” Swan said. “It’s such a picayune amount of money.”
noun
an irrational or disproportionate fear of cheese.
People who desperately avoid cheese may at least be pleased to learn there is a word they can use for their experience: turophobia 鈥渁n irrational or disproportionate fear of cheese.鈥 This term is formed on tur-, a variant of Greek 迟测虅谤贸蝉 鈥渃heese鈥 and -phobia, a combining form meaning 鈥渇ear,鈥 itself from Greek 辫丑贸产辞蝉 鈥渇ear, panic.鈥 Fear not, cheese lovers: a turophile is a connoisseur or lover of cheese, with –phile a Greek-derived combining form meaning 鈥渓over of.鈥 Turophobia is fairly new formation in English, recorded in the early 2000s.
Stossel’s own fears include turophobia, a fear of cheese; asthenophobia, a fear of fainting; and claustrophobia.
What is your main character鈥檚 worst fear? Is it something universal, like the death of a loved one? Or a rare phobia, like turophobia (fear of cheese).