It's the Word of the Day for March 7th.

Today's word is emollient, spelled E. M-O-L-L-L-I-N-T.

Emoliant is a noun, and emollient is something such as a lotion that softens or soothes.

Here's the word used in a sentence from the New York Times by Katie Mog.

Jojoba oil and squalene are plant oils and emolients, which means they moisturize and soften skin

by reinforcing its natural barrier

and forming a layer that prevents moisture from escaping.

Beef tallow is considered an emollient too.

The noun emollient is used most often in reference to a substance,

such as an oil, cream, lotion, butter, or balm,

used to treat someone's skin or hair. Perhaps unsurprisingly,

it traces back to a Latin word, the verb emolire, meaning to soften or soothe. Emolire, in turn,

formed in part from the adjective molis, meaning soft. Another descendant of molese is mollify,

which means to make softer in temper or disposition.

Emoliant first appeared in print in English in the early 1600s as an adjective with the meaning making soft or supple, describing things such as herbs, medicines, and poultices. The noun arrived

on the scene soon after.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.

Visit Miriamwebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups.