It's Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day podcast for October 21st.
Today's word is jilt, spelled J-I-L-T.
Jilt is a verb.
To jilt someone is usually to abruptly end a romantic relationship with them.
Jilt is also applied to various kinds of abrupt rejection.
Here's the word used in a sentence from the Boston Globe.
The set suggests Miss Havisham's room in her estate,
which was famously frozen in time from the moment her fiancé jilted her in the Dickens novel.
But that's simply the frame for a behind-the-scenes view into all of the elements
that go into an actor's effort to bring a character to life on stage.
These days, though jilt usually implies the sudden ending of a romantic relationship,
What's in a name?
Often something not very nice, through no fault and much to the chagrin of those bearing that name.
Just ask Ralph or Karen.
The same is possibly true of Gillot, an old pet name of Gillian
that is thought to have led to the noun Gillet, spelled G-I-L-L-E-T,
which originally referred to an unfaithful wife and later became Jilt,
it can also be used beyond that context with the broader meaning to sever close relations with.
used in the late 17th century for a person, especially a woman, who capriciously casts a lover aside.
The verb jilt followed, referring to the actions of such a person.