Word of the Day: ADAMANT

Unbreakable

adamant (adj) - utterly unyielding, unshakeable, or insistent; unbreakable [ad-uh-mant]

• adamant can refer to a hard crystalline carbon like a diamond or any unbreakable substance

• adamantine also means unyielding or unconquerable

• adamantium is the hardest metal in the fictional Marvel universe and the reason Wolverine’s claws are unbreakable

BREAKDOWN: The word adamant has an uncertain etymology but has always referred to either strong, unbreakable substances or a similarly indomitable attitude. From this word comes the name of the hardest substance on earth: diamond.

“Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no way to change it. So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful. Everyone knows this, but no one can do it.” —Laozi

[Our Wednesday Wildcards are fascinating and important words that are not derived from classical roots.]