mettlesome

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 8, 2022 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>mettlesome</strong> &#149; \MET-ul-sum\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><em>Mettlesome</em> means "full of vigor and strength of spirit or temperament."</p> <p>// The rider was experienced and had no trouble handling the <em>mettlesome</em> horse.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mettlesome">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"My mother was strong, <em>mettlesome</em>—a survivor. We were a lower-middle-class family." — Patti Smith, quoted in <em>The Guardian</em>, 20 Sep. 2020</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>The 17th-century adjective <em>mettlesome</em> (popularly used of spirited horses) sometimes appeared as the variant <em>metalsome</em>. That's not surprising. In the 16th century and for some time after, <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mettle">mettle</a></em> was a variant spelling of <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metal">metal</a></em>—that is, the word for substances such as gold, copper, and iron. The 16th century was also when <em>metal</em>—or <em>mettle</em>—acquired the figurative sense of "spirit," "courage," or "stamina." However, by the early 18th century, dictionaries were noting the distinction between <em>metal</em>, used for the substance, and <em>mettle</em>, used for "spirit," so that nowadays the words <em>mettle</em> and <em>mettlesome</em> are rarely associated with <em>metal</em>.</p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>