Word of the Day:

August 29, 2024

clement

adjective KLEM-unt

What it Means

Clement is a formal word used to describe weather that is mild, or in other words, neither too hot nor too cold. Clement is also sometimes used to describe someone who is inclined to be merciful or lenient, as in “a clement judge.”

// Although she loves visiting the northeast, Sue prefers to live in places with a more clement climate, without heavy snows or high heating bills.

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Clement in Context

“While the outdoor market is held rain or shine, Harriman and Donahue both said they’re hoping for clement weather not just for the first Saturday, but for as much of the season as possible. ‘Last summer it was so rainy,’ Donahue said. ‘It was incredibly wet. It doesn’t help growing things and it also doesn’t help with the tourist traffic.’” — Tim Cebula, The Portland (Maine) Press-Herald, 10 Apr. 2024

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Did You Know?

Weather reporting being what it is, one is more likely to encounter the word inclement (“stormy”) in a forecast than its opposite, clement, which makes sense: letting folks know it’s time to hunker down is more urgent than advising them to hop in a hammock. But both words, naturally, come from the same Latin adjective, clemens, meaning “mild” or “calm.” The weather-related senses of the pair arose in the mid-1600s, but clement was first used centuries earlier with a different meaning, still in use today, describing someone who is merciful or lenient. The word’s expansion into meteorological matters seems perhaps intuitive; after a week of rain or snow, the sun emerging from the clouds may seem like an act of mercy, indeed. (The use of inclement to describe someone cruel or unmerciful emerged in the early 1600s but has since become obsolete).