Halcyon - plus, our new weekly word game!

[Merriam-Webster]( WORD OF THE DAY [July 19, 2018](#none) halcyon [Audio pronunciation]( adjective | HAL-see-un Definition 1 : [calm](, [peaceful]( 2 : [happy](, [golden]( 3 : [prosperous](, [affluent]( Scroll down for more about halcyon TRENDING NOW: [socialism]( [uphold]( [due process]( [asylum]( [SEE ALL [>]]( PEOPLE ARE READING # [Words We're Watching: 'Laze']( # [5 Words for Clumsy People]( # ['Flight': A Great Way To Try New Things]( # [Absent Letters That Are Heard Anyway]( WORD GAMES AND QUIZZES: WEEKLY CHALLENGE [Test Your Emoji Exceptionalism]( Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔 [PLAY NOW]( Nailed this quiz? We have plenty more to try! [TAKE ME THERE [>]]( Did You Know? According to Greek mythology, Alkyone, the daughter of the god of the winds, became so distraught when she learned that her husband had been killed in a shipwreck that she threw herself into the sea and was changed into a [kingfisher](. As a result, ancient Greeks called such birds alkyōn or halkyōn. The legend also says that such birds built floating nests on the sea, where they so charmed the wind god that he created a period of unusual calm that lasted until the birds' eggs hatched. This legend prompted people to use halcyon both as a [noun]( naming a genus of kingfisher and as an adjective meaning either "of or relating to the kingfisher or its nesting period" or "calm." Examples of HALCYON "Today, California is [in the black]( and has even banked an emergency fund of eight billion dollars. Unemployment is less than five per cent. Still, there is nothing halcyon about Brown's vision of the future. At a press conference in January, he unveiled his valedictory budget proposal … and made clear that this was no cause for celebration." — Connie Bruck, The New Yorker, 26 Mar. 2018 "There was a time when the gates opened at Molson Stadium and fans flocked in to watch the Alouettes play. And mostly, win. Until those halcyon days return, the organization realizes something must change." — Herb Zurkowsky, The Gazette (Montreal), 31 May 2018 Name That Synonym What synonym of halcyon rhymes with acid? [VIEW THE ANSWER [>]]( MERCH Show Your Wordie Pride! New swag now available — featuring our newly added words welp and wordie [CHECK OUT OUR SELECTION [>]]( MORE WORD FUN: [WORD GAMES [>]]( [TRENDING NOW [>]]( [WORDS AT PLAY [>]]( FOLLOW US: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( [Pinterest]( SHARE: [Facebook][Facebook]( [Twitter][Twitter]( [View this email in a web browser]( You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive the Merriam-Webster Word of the Day. [Unsubscribe from Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day]( [Manage your subscription settings]( Merriam-Webster, Inc. 47 Federal Street P.O. Box 281 Springfield, MA 01102 [www.merriam-webster.com](