It's the word of the day for March 7th.
Today's word is emolient, spelled E-M-O-L-L-I-E-N-T.
Emolient is a noun, and emolient is something such as a lotion that softens or soothes.
Here's the word used in a sentence from The New York Times by Katie Mogg.
Jojoba oil and squalene are plant oils and emollients,
which means they moisturize and soften skin by reinforcing its natural barrier and forming a layer that prevents moisture from escaping.
Beef tallow is considered an emollient too.
The noun emollient is used most often in reference to a substance, such as an oil cream,
lotion, butter, or balm, used to treat someone's skin or hair.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it traces back to a Latin word,
the verb imolire, meaning to soften or soothe.
Imolire, in turn, formed in part from the adjective molis, meaning soft.
Another descendant of molis is molify, which means to make softer in temper or disposition.
Emolient first appeared in print in English in the early 1600s as an adjective with the meaning making soft or supple,
describing things such as herbs, medicines, and poultices.
The noun arrived on the scene soon after.
With your Word of the Day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.