Word of the Day: PITHY

Succinct but full of substance

pithy (adj) - short, concise, and full of meaning; containing a lot of pith

• pith is the soft, spongy tissue in the center of plant stems, roots, and certain fruits; the essence or heart of a thing

• a pith helmet is a large, hard sun hat made from the pith of a tropical plant

BREAKDOWN: The word pithy is formed as an adjective meaning full of pith, at least in a figurative sense. Pith as a word for the core or substance of a thing comes from the Middle English pith or pyth and, before that, the Old English or Proto Germanic pitha meaning the pith of plants (the same origin of the word pit). Pithy did not adopt its literal meaning of containing a lot of pith until the 16th century.

“For though my rhyme be ragged,
Tattered and jagged,
Rudely rain-beaten,
Rusty and moth-eaten,
If ye take well therewith,
It hath in it some pith.” —John Skelton

Behold the pithy pommelo

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