• roborant •
Pronunciation: ro-bê-rênt • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Tending to fortify, restoring strength to someone or something.
Notes: Like so many other adjectives (e.g. restorative, detergent, elective), today's word may be used as a noun referring to a restorative tonic. It is akin to the seldom used English verb roborate "to strengthen, restore".
In Play: This adjective may refer to physical restoration: "Stevia likes to take a roborant power nap mid afternoon." It may also refer, as an adjective or a noun, to mental or spiritual restoration: "A summer vacation is the best roborant for the depletion of a mundane job."
Word History: Today's word is Latin roboran(t)s "strengthening", the present participle of roborare "to strengthen", from robur, robor- "red oak, strength". This is also the origin of Spanish roble "oak" and of robustus "strong": English just trimmed off the ending of this word for its robust. The Latin word comes from Proto-Indo-European roudth-/reudh- "red", the origin of English red, German rot "red", and French rouge "red". Latin rufus "reddish" and rubeus "red" can be traced back to the same PIE word. Rubeus is the origin of English ruby. Rust and ruddy come from the same source.
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