Make Your Point > Archived Issues > NASCENT
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pronounce
NASCENT:
Say it "NASS unt."
To hear it, click here.
Or, if you prefer, say it "NAY sunt."
connect this word to others:
The word we're checking out today, nascent, has a nearly identical twin in English: naissant. Both mean "new, newly developing, just beginning to exist," and both are based on the same Latin root. You can even pronounce them the same, if you want.
So what's the difference? Tone. Nascent is simpler, more common, and more basic, like a pair of sneakers. And naissant is rarer and fancier, like a pair of high heels. I like keeping both of them around.
They're related to other words about birth and new beginnings, like nature, native, innate, and renaissance.
Okay, so, nascent and naissant both mean "beginning to emerge, just now appearing." How about an adjective that means the opposite--"beginning to fade, just now disappearing"? That's o____escent. Can you recall it?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
The word "nascent" comes from a Latin one meaning "to be born."
Nascent things seem to be in the process of being born: they're brand new, or just now developing.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech: It's an adjective: "a nascent industry," "the movement was still nascent."
Other forms: The adverb is "nascently." For a noun, pick "nascence" or "nascency."
how to use it:
"Nascent" often has a positive tone.
Because it's much rarer than words like "emergent," "budding," and "pioneering," it's perfect when you need to be formal and emphatic. (But when you need to be very formal and emphatic, pick its dressier twin sister, naissant.)
Talk about nascent hopes, efforts, activities, projects, movements, revolutions, technologies, industries, etc.
Or, say that something is in a nascent stage, state, or period of development.
examples:
"So-called clean meat, which is genuine meat grown from cells outside the animal, is still at a nascent stage."
— Reuters, 29 January 2020
"She bore in her arms an enormous bunch of flowers and leaves which she spread out upon the bed. The first perfumes of the nascent springtime spread through the room."
— Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, The Cabin, 1917
has this page helped you understand "nascent"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "nascent" without saying "budding" or "incipient."
try it out:
In 2020, self-driving cars are a nascent technology, a nascent industry.
What's another industry, technology, or medical or scientific field that's still nascent? What is it that we can't do yet, that we haven't yet accomplished?
If you're drawing a blank, try talking instead about some technology or industry that was nascent at a certain time in the past. When was it nascent? How did people react to it back then? Has it since become part of our daily lives? Why or why not?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
This month, our game is called "Fix the Grand Spell which was Cast by Short Words."
(Or, in monstrously inflated terms, the game is called "Rewrite the Extraordinary Incantation which was Executed by Monosyllabic Vocables.")
In each issue, I'll offer a familiar quote that I've heartlessly hypertrophied with polysyllabic transplants. You'll restore the quote to its original version, with each word just one syllable long.
That is to say, I'll share a fat, fake draft of a famed quote; you'll say the trim real one.
For example, if I say "Exploit an opportunity while the situation allows," then you say, "Make hay while the sun shines." If I say, "Durations remedy every laceration," then you say, "Time heals all wounds."
From the previous issue:
"From the present going forward, we won't merely confront our most terrible horrors; we will pursue them." --> "From now on, we won't just face our worst fears; we will seek them out."
Try this today: "Timepieces slaughter temporal spans."
Say that, but in words of one beat each.
Clues:
Where it's from: a novel.
The year we first heard it: 1929.
review this word:
1. The opposite of NASCENT is
A. SPOTTY.
B. MORIBUND (in the process of dying).
C. METRONOMIC (steady and repetitive).
2. They're _____, with a nascent sense of self.
A. twelve years old
B. forty years old
C. seventy-six years old
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
The word we're checking out today, nascent, has a nearly identical twin in English: naissant. Both mean "new, newly developing, just beginning to exist," and both are based on the same Latin root. You can even pronounce them the same, if you want. The word "nascent" comes from a Latin one meaning "to be born."
Part of speech: It's an adjective: "a nascent industry," "the movement was still nascent."
"Nascent" often has a positive tone.
"So-called clean meat, which is genuine meat grown from cells outside the animal, is still at a nascent stage."
Explain the meaning of "nascent" without saying "budding" or "incipient."
In 2020, self-driving cars are a nascent technology, a nascent industry.
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
1. The opposite of NASCENT is
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