Gainsay

gainsay \gayn-SAY; GAYN-say\, transitive verb:
1. To deny or dispute; to declare false or invalid.
2. To oppose; to contradict.

"The evidence was clear; there was no way that the family could not possibly gainsay their presence at the scene of the crime."

Someone who gainsays is called a gainsayer.

Gainsay, you will; gainsay, you won't..

Aegis

aegis \EE-jis\, noun:
1. Protection; support.
2. Sponsorship; patronage.
3. Guidance, direction, or control.
4. A shield or protective armor; -- applied in mythology to the shield of Zeus.

Also spelt egis.

"We were highly honoured to be under the aegis of Emperor Caesar which afforded us easy passage across the Empire."

There is a great article on Wikipedia which describes the mythological associations that the word aegis has. Apparently it is the sheild or buckler of Zeus.

Aegis is also a variant of UNIX which was used on Apollo workstations. (Yes, that is true, but hey, I'm a geek)

It is also the name for a network authentication system from Meetinghouse Datahouse Communications popular in 802.1x networks. (Yep, big geek)

Another geeky definition is that AEGIS is a CASE tool (I remember those :)) for project change management. (It's ok, I do wash behind my ears).

One, two aegis my shoe!

Hale

After a long break, daily word blog is back.

hale \HAYL\, adjective:
Free from disease and weakening conditions; healthy.

"Our walk in the woods gave us a hale and hearty glow."

Sarah Josepha Buell Hale was the composer of "Mary had a little lamb".

All hale ye merry gentlemen!

Hallow

hal·low
To make or set apart as holy.
To respect or honor greatly; revere.

I chose this word because I was leading a study on the Lord's Prayer and I was curious as to what 'hallowed by thy name' really meant.

"Jesus was someone who was hallowed"

It can be used as an trasitive verb which is a verb that describes an action and takes a direct object: hallowed, hallows, hallowing.

"When I walked into Canterbury Cathedral for the first time, I got a sense I was on hallowed ground."

What a hallowing experience!

Maelstrom

maelstrom \MAYL-struhm\, noun:
1. A large, powerful, or destructive whirlpool.
2. Something resembling a maelstrom; a violent, disordered, or turbulent state of affairs.

"A maelstrom of political intrigue preceded the government's downfall."

Oh, dear, don't get into a maelstrom! It's only a car!

Alacrity

a·lac·ri·ty n.
Cheerful willingness; eagerness.
Speed or quickness; celerity.

"Robyn responded to Giles' request with alacrity."

There is also an adjective alacrituous.

"Giles was impressed by Robyn's alacritous response to his request."

Racoons and bears and penguins are all ala-critters

Alpenglow

alpenglow \AL-puhn-gloh\, noun:
A reddish glow seen near sunset or sunrise on the summits of mountains.

The alpenglow is quite an interesting phenomenon because it is found inside the earth's atmosphere.

"We arose whilst it was still dark in order to ascend the mountain in order to catch a glimpse of the much lauded alpenglow."

Alpenglow or cornflakes?