Miscellaneous Entries.
resister; resistor. “Resister” = one who resists. “Resistor” is the electrical term.
resolution; motion. These terms carry distinct meanings in parliamentary procedure. When a deliberative assembly passes a “resolution,” the assembly is formally expressing its opinion about something — but no official action is taken. But when an assembly member raises a “motion,” the assembly is considering a formal proposal for action — and if the motion carries, the action will be taken.
resolvable; *resolvible; resoluble. “Resolvable” is far more common than the others in meaning “able to be resolved.” “Resoluble” has the liability of meaning also “capable of being dissolved again.” Avoid the variant spelling *”resolvible.”
respiratory is preferably pronounced /RES-puhr-uh-tor-ee/, not /ri-SPI-ruh-tor-ee/.
restitutionary; *restitutional; *restitutive; *restitutory. Unabridged dictionaries generally record only *”restitutive” and *”restitutory.” But in law — where the subject of restitution is most common — the standard term is “restitutionary.” All other forms can properly be regarded as needless variants.
résumé. So spelled, preferably, with both accents. The first acute accent is often dropped for three reasons. First, the word is typically pronounced /REZ-[y]uh-may/, not /RAY-zyoo-may/. Second, the accent over the final syllable (“resumé”) sufficiently distinguishes this noun from the verb “resume.” Third, American English is inhospitable to unnecessary diacritical marks, and many desktop dictionaries (Webster’s 11th being a notable exception) have ditched the two-accent version. Language-Change Index — “resumé” for “résumé”: Stage 4.
*Invariably inferior forms.
For information about the Language-Change Index, click here.
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Quotation of the Day: “Words are but the images of things.” 8 Samuel Johnson, Works 5 (John Hawkins ed., 1787) (Idler No. 70) (as quoted in W.K. Wimsatt Jr., The Prose Style of Samuel Johnson 103 (1941; repr. 1963)).
