It's Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, 4 May 12th.
Today's word is Torrid, spelled T-O-R-R-I-D.
Torrid is an adjective.
It can be used to describe something that is literally hot,
such as a region near the Earth's equator, or figuratively hot, such as romance.
Here's the word used in a sentence from the Associated Press.
Chinese cities such as Chongqing, a southwestern metropolis known for its torrid summers,
have for years used their air raid tunnels as public cooling centers.
Hot, steamy, sultry,
English is full of words that do double duty in describing thirst traps both literal as in the tropics and figurative as in,
well, thirst traps.
Torrid comes from the Latin verb torrere, which means to burn or to parch,
and is an ancestor of our word toast.
Despite its dry implications, torrere is also an ancestor of the word torrent,
as in a torrent of rain.
Torrid first appeared in English in the 16th century and was originally used to describe something burned or scorched by exposure to the sun,
but it has since taken on an extended meaning similar to the sexy sense of the word hot,
showing fiery passion, as in Torrid love letters or a Torrid affair.
With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.
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