jaunt etymology meaning

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Definition of jaunt

 (Entry 1 of 2)

Definition of jaunt  (Entry 2 of 2)

intransitive verb

Examples of jaunt in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'jaunt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Noun and Verb

origin unknown

1592, in the meaning defined at sense 2

1575, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Articles Related to jaunt

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Dictionary Entries Near jaunt

jaune brillant

jaunting car

Cite this Entry

“Jaunt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jaunt. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of jaunt, more from merriam-webster on jaunt.

Nglish: Translation of jaunt for Spanish Speakers

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• 1.1 Etymology
• 1.2 Pronunciation
• 1.3.1 Translations
• 1.4.1 Derived terms
• 1.4.2 Translations
• 1.5 References
• 1.6 Anagrams

English [ edit ]

Etymology [ edit ].

Origin uncertain. Perhaps a palatalised alteration of daunt ( “ to discourage ” ) . Compare Scots jaunder ( “ to ramble, jaunt to taunt, jeer ” ) , dialectal Swedish ganta ( “ to play the buffoon, romp, jest ” ) ; perhaps akin to English jump . Compare jaunce . Modern usage likely influenced by jaunty .

Pronunciation [ edit ]

• IPA ( key ) : /ˈd͡ʒɔːnt/
• ( some accents ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈdʒɑːnt/
• Rhymes: -ɔːnt , -ɑːnt

Noun [ edit ]

jaunt ( plural jaunts )

• 1671 , John Milton , “The Fourth Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes , London: [ … ] J. M [ acock ] for John Starkey   [ … ] , →OCLC : Our Savior, meek, and with untroubled mind After his aëry jaunt , though hurried sore. Hungry and cold, betook him to his rest.
• 1597 , William Shakespeare , Romeo & Juliet : Fie, what a jaunt have I had.
• 1902 , John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide : Some days later it happened that young Heriotside was stepping home over the Lang Muir about ten at night, it being his first jaunt from home since his arm had mended.

Translations [ edit ]

Verb [ edit ].

jaunt ( third-person singular simple present jaunts , present participle jaunting , simple past and past participle jaunted )

• ( intransitive ) To ramble here and there; to stroll ; to make an excursion .
• ( intransitive ) To ride on a jaunting car .
• 1818 , Cobbett's Weekly Political Register : To get into a Grecian car, and to be drawn, with Minerva at his back [ … ] four or five miles through the streets of London‥after having quietly suffered himself to be jaunted about in this manner
• ( obsolete ) To tire a horse by riding it hard or back and forth.

Derived terms [ edit ]

• jaunting car

References [ edit ]

Anagrams [ edit ].

• jantu , junta

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Dictionary definition of jaunt

A short trip or excursion, usually for pleasure or leisure, often implying a sense of casualness or informality. "The romantic jaunt to the city was the perfect getaway for the couple."

Detailed meaning of jaunt

The term is often used to describe a quick trip or outing that is taken for fun, rather than for a specific purpose. For example, a weekend jaunt to the countryside, or a day jaunt to a nearby city. A jaunt can also imply a sense of adventure or spontaneity, as it suggests a trip that is taken on a whim or without much planning. The term is often used in contrast to a more formal or structured trip, such as a vacation or business trip. Jaunt also implies a sense of brevity, it's a short and usually pleasant trip, usually it's not a long term commitment. In general, a jaunt is a short and casual trip, usually taken for pleasure or leisure, that implies a sense of adventure and spontaneity.

Example sentences of jaunt

1. We took a leisurely jaunt through the picturesque countryside. 2. The couple embarked on a romantic jaunt along the coastline. 3. The weekend jaunt to the mountains was filled with breathtaking views. 4. She went on a solo jaunt to explore the bustling city streets. 5. The group organized a spontaneous jaunt to a nearby vineyard. 6. The family enjoyed a refreshing jaunt through the lush forest trails.

History and etymology of jaunt

The noun 'jaunt' has its etymological roots in the Middle French word 'jent,' which meant 'a day's journey' or 'a day's work.' This Middle French term, in turn, can be traced back to the Old French word 'journée,' meaning 'day' and, by extension, 'a day's travel or excursion.' The transition from 'journée' to 'jent' in Middle French reflected the linguistic shifts of the time. In English, 'jaunt' emerged during the 17th century, retaining its essence as a short trip or excursion, often for pleasure or leisure, with a connotation of informality and casualness. This etymology underscores the historical association of 'jaunt' with the idea of a brief journey or day's outing.

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Further usage examples of jaunt

1. They decided to go on a jaunt to discover hidden gems in the city. 2. The jaunt to the amusement park was filled with laughter and excitement. 3. He took a short jaunt during his lunch break to clear his mind. 4. The friends planned a jaunt to visit historical landmarks in the area. 5. The jaunt to the beach included a relaxing picnic by the shore. 6. She went on a shopping jaunt, visiting various boutiques and shops. 7. The jaunt through the old town gave them a glimpse into the city's rich history. 8. They embarked on a culinary jaunt, trying out different restaurants in the neighborhood. 9. The weekend jaunt to the cabin allowed them to reconnect with nature. 10. The hiking enthusiasts organized a challenging jaunt up the mountain. 11. The spontaneous jaunt to the concert turned out to be a memorable experience. 12. She decided to take a jaunt to the bookstore to find a new novel to read. 13. The jaunt to the art gallery showcased a diverse collection of masterpieces. 14. They planned a jaunt to the countryside to witness the beauty of the changing seasons.

Quiz categories containing jaunt

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awayday,detour,journey,outing,stroll,tour,trek

eb68db_91e59938480545b2903d58d1b24dc0e4.mp3

outing, residency, stay, inhabitancy

amble,expedition,frolic,junket,ramble

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Definition of jaunt noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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Meaning of jaunt in English

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• break-journey
• circumnavigation
• around Robin Hood's barn idiom
• communication
• super-commuting
• transoceanic
• well travelled

jaunt | American Dictionary

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jaunty (adj.)

also janty , jantee , etc., 1660s, "elegant, stylish," an imperfect or jocular attempt to render into English the contemporary pronunciation of French gentil "nice, pleasing," in Old French "noble" (see gentle ). Meaning "easy and sprightly in manner" first attested 1670s. The same French word otherwise was Englished as genteel . Related: Jauntily ; jauntiness .

Entries linking to jaunty

1590s, "fashionably elegant; suitable to polite society, characteristic of a lady or gentleman; decorous in manners or behavior," from French gentil "stylish, fashionable, elegant; nice, graceful, pleasing," from Old French gentil "high-born, noble" (11c.); a reborrowing (with evolved senses) of the French word that had early come into English as gentle (q.v.), with French pronunciation and stress preserved to emphasize the distinction. The Latin source of the French word is the ancestor of English gentile , but the main modern meaning of that word is from a later Scriptural sense in Latin. See also jaunty . OED 2nd ed. reports genteel "is now used, except by the ignorant, only in mockery" (a development it dates from the 1840s).

early 13c., gentile , gentle "well-born, of noble rank or family," from Old French gentil / jentil "high-born, worthy, noble, of good family; courageous, valiant; fine, good, fair" (11c., in Modern French "nice, graceful, pleasing; fine, pretty") and directly from Latin gentilis "of the same family or clan," in Medieval Latin "of noble or good birth," from gens (genitive gentis ) "race, clan," from root of gignere "beget," from PIE root *gene- "to give birth, beget," from PIE root *gene- "give birth, beget," with derivatives referring to procreation and familial and tribal groups.

Sense evolved in English and French to "having the character or manners of one of noble rank or birth," varying according to how those were defined. From mid-13c. in English as "gracious, kind" (now obsolete), manners prescribed for Christian or chivalrous nobility. From late 13c. as "courteous, polite, well-bred, charming;" c. 1300 as "graceful, beautiful." Meaning "mild, tender; easy; not harsh" (of animals, things, persons) is from 1550s. Older sense remains in gentleman , and compare gentile (adj.), an alternative form which tends to keep the Biblical senses of the Latin word (though gentle in Middle English sometimes meant "pagan, heathen"), and genteel , which is the same word borrowed again from French. From 1823 as "pertaining to the fairies."

*genə- , also *gen- , Proto-Indo-European root meaning "give birth, beget," with derivatives referring to procreation and familial and tribal groups.

It forms all or part of: Antigone ; autogenous ; benign ; cognate ; congener ; congenial ; congenital ; connate ; cosmogony ; cryogenic ; degenerate ; engender ; engine ; epigone ; eugenics ; -gen ; gendarme ; gender ; gene ; genealogy ; general ; generate ; generation ; generic ; generous ; genesis ; -genesis ; genial ; -genic ; genital ; genitive ; genius ; genocide ; genotype ; genre ; gens ; gent ; genteel ; gentile ; gentle ; gentry ; genuine ; genus ; -geny ; germ ; german (adj.) "of the same parents or grandparents;" germane ; germinal ; germinate ; germination ; gingerly ; gonad ; gono- ; gonorrhea ; heterogeneous ; homogeneous ; homogenize ; homogenous ; impregnate ; indigenous ; ingenious ; ingenuous ; innate ; jaunty ; kermes ; kin ; kindergarten ; kindred ; king ; kind (n.) "class, sort, variety;" kind (adj.) "friendly, deliberately doing good to others;" Kriss Kringle ; malign ; miscegenation ; nada ; naive ; nascent ; natal ; Natalie ; nation ; native ; nature ; nee ; neonate ; Noel ; oncogene ; ontogeny ; photogenic ; phylogeny ; pregnant (adj.1) "with child;" primogenitor ; primogeniture ; progenitor ; progeny ; puisne ; puny ; renaissance ; theogony ; wunderkind .

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit janati "begets, bears," janah "offspring, child, person," janman- "birth, origin," jatah "born;" Avestan zizanenti "they bear;" Greek gignesthai "to become, happen," genos "race, kind," gonos "birth, offspring, stock;" Latin gignere "to beget," gnasci "to be born," genus (genitive generis ) "race, stock, kind; family, birth, descent, origin," genius "procreative divinity, inborn tutelary spirit, innate quality," ingenium "inborn character," possibly germen "shoot, bud, embryo, germ;" Lithuanian gentis "kinsmen;" Gothic kuni "race;" Old English cennan "beget, create," gecynd "kind, nature, race;" Old High German kind "child;" Old Irish ro-genar "I was born;" Welsh geni "to be born;" Armenian cnanim "I bear, I am born."

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Definition of 'jaunt'

jaunt in American English

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DuVernay on exploring racism, antisemitism, caste in ‘Origin’

Despite horrors, film ‘a collection of love stories’

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In a talk at the Kennedy School Wednesday, award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter Ava DuVernay said the impetus for her latest film, “Origin” — an adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s nonfiction book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” — wasn’t racism, antisemitism, or caste.

“I have to be motivated by human emotions,” said the “Selma” and “13th” director, explaining her decision to make the Pulitzer Prize-winning Wilkerson the protagonist of the film.

“I went in thinking, ‘I’m going to write a story about a woman writing a book,’” DuVernay said. Centering Wilkerson allowed her to explore “the interiority of the character. To write a movie about a woman on a journey.”

In “Caste,” Wilkerson explores underlying systems of social hierarchy, exploring connections between American racism, the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany, and the subjugation of Dalits in India.

DuVernay said that after a second reading, she realized that Wilkerson was an obvious protagonist. This was partly because the author had shared on social media about the recent deaths of her parents and her husband.

“I don’t see my work as being about trauma. I see all my work as being about triumph, and you cannot triumph if you do not know what you are overcoming.” Ava DuVernay

“I realized those losses happened when she was writing ‘Caste,’” DuVernay recalled. “She’s traveling the world. Her losses — and what she’s finding and gaining — all of those collide and all of those make their way into the book somehow.”

In some ways, DuVernay said, Wilkerson’s journey paralleled her own. In 2020, when “Caste” came out, DuVernay had recently lost a close family member. In addition, due to the pandemic, she recalled “everyone [feeling] afraid.” Soon after, the murder of George Floyd added to the “heightened emotions” of the day.

Wilkerson’s personal story “ignited” the historical information for DuVernay. “Origin” juxtaposes the contemporary story of Wilkerson and her book’s historical material, which “spans 400 years and seven different time periods.”

DuVernay said depicting the experience of the Dalits, the caste in India relegated to the lowest and most degrading work, was uncomfortable. She felt that as a non-Dalit, “I shouldn’t be doing it.” While she felt obligated to include such a major part of the book in her film, the experiences didn’t feel like hers to tell. In fact, for the filmmaker, it harkened back to another era — and another kind of injustice. “I likened it to well-meaning white people depicting African American life when Black people were not allowed to make films or given access to filmmaking,” she said. Without representation in the process, she concluded, “there’s usually a little something missing.”

DuVernay was joined on stage for the talk by Khalil Gibran Muhammad , Ford Foundation Professor of History, Race, and Public Policy at the Kennedy School.

“You’ve been making films about systemic racism for a long time, so what convinced you in the story of ‘Caste’ that Isabel Wilkerson had gotten it right?” asked Muhammad. “That somehow our language wasn’t quite right to capture … And I have a line here from the film, ‘Racism as the primary language to describe everything is insufficient.’ So talk us through your adaptation of this thesis.”

“I don’t say that she got it right,” DuVernay responded. “I think that her pursuit of her idea is fascinating.”

Describing the two years she spent interviewing Wilkerson, DuVernay explained her nuanced take.

“There are commonalities and there is an entry point that is shared across oppressions,” she said. “We don’t have to compete in the ‘oppression Olympics’ to see who is suffering more. This very simple idea of hierarchy of human beings based on a random set of traits is at the core of all of the -isms,” she concluded, naming racism and antisemitism along with Islamophobia and homophobia.

Despite the horrors in “Origin,” DuVernay said she sees her film as “a collection of love stories.”

“I don’t see my work as being about trauma. I see all my work as being about triumph, and you cannot triumph if you do not know what you are overcoming.”

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NASA Releases New Render of SpaceX's Starship Landed on the Moon's Surface

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N ASA is still hoping to carefully lower astronauts to the lunar surface from a SpaceX Starship, marking humanity's triumphant return after over half a century.

At least, that's according to the plan as it currently stands. As part of its Artemis 3 mission , NASA is looking to launch a crew of four to the Moon as early as 2026 onboard its Orion capsule and then make its descent to the surface in a Starship.

Around five years later, NASA wants to leverage the help of both SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin to ferry cargo landers to the lunar surface.

While the mission, dubbed Artemis 7, is slated for no earlier than 2031, the space agency is already digging in. A number of recently released renders show off both Blue Origin's proposed cargo lander as well as SpaceX's Starship lowering a Moon rover to the surface with the help of an exterior elevator.

It's a fascinating glimpse of what our future efforts to establish a more permanent presence on the lunar surface could look like — but needless to say, the agency and its private partners have a mountain of work to do before the renders can ever be turned into reality.

Over the Moon

Earlier this month, NASA asked both SpaceX and Blue Origin to "develop cargo versions of their human lunar landers as an option under their existing contracts," per NASA's update . "These cargo variants are expected to land approximately 26,000 – 33,000 pounds (12 to 15 metric tons) of payload on the lunar surface and be in service no earlier than the Artemis VII mission."

Rugged rovers will play a crucial role in our ongoing efforts to explore the Moon's surface and build out a base .

"It’s essential that NASA has the capability to land not just astronauts, but large pieces of equipment, such as pressurized rovers, on the Moon for maximum return on science and exploration activities," said NASA Human Landing System program manager Lisa Watson-Morgan in a statement. "Beginning this work now allows SpaceX and Blue Origin to leverage their respective human lander designs to provide cargo variants that NASA will need in the future."

In other words, instead of starting from scratch, the idea is to make changes to existing lunar landers, including "adjustments for payload interfaces and deployment mechanisms," according to NASA. The new variants will also have no human life support systems, giving the companies far more room to play with.

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Mexico’s likely next president has a Jewish origin. Is that relevant in a deeply Catholic country?

By mid-2024, claudia sheinbaum will most likely become mexico’s first female president.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — By mid-2024, Claudia Sheinbaum will most likely become Mexico’s first female president. She would also be its first leader with a Jewish background in a country that’s home to nearly 100 million Catholics.

On June 2, voters will choose a new president, 628 congressmen and thousands of local positions — Mexico’s largest election ever, according to the National Electoral Institute.

Sheinbaum, a former mayor of Mexico City and the governing party’s candidate, has kept a comfortable lead in all polls against opposition candidates Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez Máynez.

What role has religion played in the ongoing campaign that will elect the successor to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador? The answers are nuanced.

Does Sheinbaum identify herself as Jewish?

The 61-year-old candidate has approached the question with caution: While she is of Jewish ancestry, she is not religiously observant.

Her four grandparents were Jews who immigrated from Lithuania and Bulgaria. She was born in Mexico City and her parents did not raise her under any religion. According to her campaign team, Sheinbaum considers herself a woman of faith, but she is not religiously affiliated.

Being Jewish can be an identity, but not necessarily a religious one, said Tessy Schlosser, director of the Jewish Documentation and Research Center of Mexico.

And Jewish identity is multifaceted, Schlosser said. It can be aligned with history, society, spirituality, geography and ideology. Even within the same Jewish community, for example, there may be conflicting views on Zionism or genealogy.

“For some, if you are born to a Jewish mother, you are Jewish,” Schlosser said. “For others, if you are born to a father. For others, if you have a grandfather. So, even in terms of lineage or racialization there are many debates.”

How big is the Mexican Jewish community and what is its relationship with Sheinbaum?

The first Jews arrived in Mexico in 1519, along with the Spanish colonization. The community began to grow substantially by the early 20th century, as thousands of Jews fled from the Ottoman Empire to escape instability and antisemitism.

To date, the Mexican Jewish community is formed by Ashkenazi Jews, from Central and Eastern Europe, and Sephardic Jews, mainly from Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain and Syria.

According to Renee Dayan — director of Tribuna Israelita, which serves as a link to the Central Committee of Mexico’s Jewish community — there are now about 50,000 Jews in the country. The majority are settled in Mexico City and its surroundings, with small communities in the cities of Monterrey, Guadalajara, Tijuana, Cancún, San Miguel de Allende and Los Cabos.

As a general practice, the Jewish community maintains relationships with a broad range of local authorities and does not endorse any particular candidate or party, Dayan said. However, it is open to meeting with politicians who wish to discuss their proposals and recently met with Sheinbaum, Gálvez and Álvarez Máynez.

While welcoming the dialogue with Sheinbaum, members of the Jewish community do not consider her to be part of their ranks, in part because Sheinbaum herself has rejected any such connection.

“Claudia has actively tried to say: ‘This is not me,” Schlosser said. “It must be respected when a person does not want to be identified in one way or another.”

More broadly, Schlosser said, Mexico’s political world does not extend any special benefits to high-ranking politicians who represent social or religious diversity.

Has Sheinbaum’s Jewish identity had any impact in the electoral process?

In mid-2023, former Mexican president Vicente Fox wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Sheinbaum was “Jewish and foreigner at the same time.”

That comment — denounced as “antisemitic, racist and xenophobic” — was not isolated. Fox was responding to criticism made by another user who said that Sheinbaum was “fake” for using a rosary when she was Jewish.

Similarly, Jewish publicist Carlos Alazraki said in an interview that Sheinbaum was a “phony” for wearing a skirt with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe with the sole purpose of pleasing the Catholic electorate.

This is not the first time that Sheinbaum has faced criticism. Since the official campaigns kicked off in March, Sheinbaum and Gálvez have been questioned and second-guessed in a country where sexist prejudices still debate whether a woman is prepared to rule the second largest economy in Latin America.

So, what role does religion play ahead of June elections?

Although Sheinbaum has repeatedly said that she does not practice any religion, she proudly publicized a meeting she held in February with Pope Francis and has indeed worn Catholic symbols at her rallies.

Mexico is a secular state with a robust legal framework that establishes the government’s separation from the church, but the Catholic presence in the country is vast.

According to the latest official report (2020), 98 million of 126 million Mexicans are Catholics. They are followed by 14 million Protestants, mostly evangelicals, and then comes the Jewish community. More than 10 million people say they have no religion and 3 million identify as believers without religious affiliation.

The relationship between the Catholic Church and López Obrador has cooled since 2022, when several bishops raised alarms about the increasing levels of violence in the country. It is not clear whether the gap would be reduced with Sheinbaum as president, but during her campaign she has agreed to meet with Catholic leaders and reluctantly signed a national commitment to peace.

“We are in a moment in which we can see politicians seeking validation from religious authorities,” said Pauline Capdevielle, academic from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. “We saw this before the official start of the campaigns, when the two candidates presented themselves before the pope.”

Religion’s role in the current elections was apparent when thousands of people supported the presidential aspirations of Eduardo Verástegui, a right-wing activist and film producer who — although his campaign faltered — echoed the voices of conservatives rejecting abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

“When Verástegui’s candidacy failed, I thought that the religious issue was not going to have so much relevance in the campaign, but little by little we have seen that it did, particularly when the Catholic Church began its program in favor of peace,” Capdevielle said.

López Obrador and Sheinbaum have claimed that the number of homicides dropped during the current administration. But Catholic leaders, during nationwide forums that the church held in 2023, have echoed the fears spread among thousands of average citizens who shared how violence broke their lives.

Organized crime has long controlled swaths of Mexico through violence and corruption. It has diversified beyond drug trafficking in recent years, extorting businesses big and small for protection payments. Under López Obrador’s “hugs, not bullets” policy, the government has avoided direct confrontation with the cartels, allowing them to essentially take control of a dozen or more mid-sized cities.

And though addressing violence is unavoidable, Capdevielle said, the Catholic Church’s actions during the campaign could also be seen as an attempt to try to recover part of the public standing it lost during López Obrador’s six-year term.

Whether the candidates are trying to capitalize on religion to seek votes may be debatable, but Sheinbaum, Gálvez and Álvarez Máynez have been careful not to lose votes by going against a largely conservative population.

None of them, for instance, has openly addressed abortion and the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

“They are playing with ambiguities,” Capdevielle said. “They leave aside the most ideological topics and are very careful with these issues because we have seen that, in Mexico, that can have an electoral cost.”

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Earth’s new ‘second moon’ is as big as the statue of liberty—and scientists just found its origin.

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Angled view of the Giordano Bruno, Lunar crater, 2016. The height and sharpness of the rim are ... [+] evident, as well as the crater floor's rolling hills and rugged nature. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Earth’s “second moon”—as asteroid called Kamo’oalewa—appears to have come from the moon itself.

Scientists have concluded this using computer models, revealing its origin as the Giordano Bruno crater on the moon’s far side.

Near-Earth Asteroids—of which the Kamo’oalewa is one—are generally thought to have come from the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars’s and Jupiter’s orbits.

Meet Kamo’oalewa

Kamo’oalewa, also called 2016 HO3 and meaning “oscillating celestial object” in Hawaiian , is about 130 to 330 feet (40 to 100 meters) across—about the size of The Statue of Liberty. It was discovered in 2016 by Pan-STARRS, an array of telescopes in Hawaii designed to find and track NEAs. About 250,000 NEAs are currently known.

Kamo’oalewa is a quasi-satellite of Earth because it appears to orbit Earth despite actually orbiting the sun. It moves in sync with Earth in a 1:1 resonance.

Apple’s iPhone AI Plans Confirmed With New Software Release

Packers complete safety overhaul with georgia s javon bullard, sopranos star on james gandolfini s caring reaction to her ms diagnosis, giordano bruno crater.

The asteroid comes from Giordano Bruno crater on the far side of the moon, according to a paper published this week in Nature Astronomy .

A 14-mile (22-kilometer) wide impact crater, Giordano Bruno crater is thought to be the youngest crater of its size or larger on the moon’s surface. The researchers say it was caused by an asteroid about one mile (1.6 kilometers) in diameter striking the moon between one million and 10 million years ago.

The researchers used numerical simulations to model the kind of impact that could produce and eject something the size of Kamo’oalewa. The project involved weeks of computation on supercomputers to explore every possibility, according to Science .

Lunar Fragments

This is not the first time the moon has been suggested as the source of Kamo’oalewa. In 2021, a team of University of Arizona astronomers using Arizona’s Large Binocular Telescope Observatory suggested that Kamo’oalewa could be a chunk of the moon. That was based on the fact that its spectrum—the light it was reflecting—was unlike that of any other NEA. Last year another research team agreed after discovering that although unlikely, fragments of the moon caused by an impact in the past few million years could find their way into orbits like that of Kamo’oalewa.

Although the moon is covered in craters—each caused by asteroids or meteorites—the lunar material ejected by the impact generally falls back to the lunar surface.

China’s Mission

Scientists will soon know more about Earth’s “second moon.” Next year, Kamo’oalewa will be visited by Tianwen-2, China’s first asteroid sampling mission. It will be the first mission to study an asteroid tens of meters in size—the most common yet least understood small body.

Kamo’oalewa is expected to orbit in the vicinity of Earth for millions of years.

‘Dark Side’ Of The Moon

Giordano Bruno crater is on the moon’s far side, often mistakenly called its “dark side.” Despite it being a term used in popular culture, the dark side of the moon has no technical meaning. The moon is tidally locked to Earth, so we only see one side of it, the near side.

However, half of the moon is constantly lit by the sun as it orbits Earth, with only our view of it changing day and night. These are the phases of the moon, but only at full moon is the far side completely dark.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

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Why is 4/20 the unofficial weed day? The history behind April 20 and marijuana

The favorite day of stoners across the globe is upon us: April 20 or 4/20 , also known as weed day, is this Saturday.

Coincidentally falling on the same weekend as National Cold Brew Day and National Record Store Day, Saturday is shaping up to be something of a paradise for weed, coffee and music fans alike.

But how did an otherwise random day in April somehow become the mecca of marijuana enjoyment? Many theories have swirled over the years. While more exciting ones harken the holiday back to police busts or hidden messages in classic songs, the widely accepted origin is a little more reminiscent of a classic high school experience.

How did 4/20 become the official unofficial weed holiday? Here's what we know.

420 deals: Celebrate 4/20 with food deals at Wingstop, Popeyes, more. Or sip Snoop Dogg's THC drinks

What does 420 mean?

420 refers to the day 4/20, or April 20. The date has come to be known as the official stoner holiday on which marijuana smokers celebrate their love of bud.

The number 420 itself has also come to be associated with marijuana and smoking and is often used as a colloquial term for the flower and the act of consuming it.

Smokers see 4/20 not only as a day to kick back and celebrate their love of the stuff, but also to push for broader legalization and decriminalization of marijuana federally in the U.S. and beyond.

Where is weed legal? The states where recreational, medicinal marijuana is allowed in 2024

Why is 420 associated with weed?

You may have heard some of the most popular rumors that have circled the cultural zeitgeist over the years: that 420 is the code police used to describe marijuana smoking; 420 is the number of active chemicals in weed that get you high; April 20 was Bob Marley's birthday (it wasn't); that it's a reference to Bob Dylan’s song “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” (12 times 35 equals 420).

In reality, it's much simpler and perhaps less exciting than any of that.

While no one can say for certain, one widely accepted origin traces back to a group of teenagers hanging out after school.

In the early '70s, five students at San Rafael High School in Marin County, California would meet outside of the school after extracurricular activities had ended for the day. The group, eventually called the "Waldos," simply for the fact they met by a wall to do their thing, made their official meeting time 4:20 p.m. and eventually started using 420 as code for smoking.

One of the Waldo members, Dave Reddix, later got work as a roadie for the Grateful Dead, and the band helped to popularize the term, he told Time. Specifically, a flyer distributed by a group of Oakland Deadheads in December 1990 inviting people to smoke on April 20 at 4:20 p.m. did the trick.

A reporter at High Times magazine got hold of the flier and printed it in 1991, bringing it to the attention of cannabis fans across state lines. The magazine continued to use the term in future publications, solidifying its place in popular vernacular.

Steve Bloom, the "High Times" reporter who originally received the flyer, later credited the Waldos for originating the term, saying in a 2013 blog , "...they wanted people all over the world to get together on one day each year and collectively smoke pot at the same time. They birthed the idea of a stoner holiday, which April 20 has become."

Stoner movies: Celebrate 4/20 with these TV shows and movies about weed

Where is weed legal?

Looking forward to partaking this 4/20? Make sure you know the laws in your area before you do.

The legalization of marijuana has been a long state-by-state process, and various levels of use from none to medical to recreational are allowed in jurisdictions across the U.S. At least 25 have fully legalized recreational use, and more are either in the process or have future voting on the books.

Wondering about the status in your state? Check our list of where recreational, medicinal marijuana is allowed in 2024.

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jaunty adjective

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What does the adjective jaunty mean?

There are four meanings listed in OED's entry for the adjective jaunty , two of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

How common is the adjective jaunty ?

How is the adjective jaunty pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the adjective jaunty come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the adjective jaunty is in the mid 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for jaunty is from 1662, in the writing of Thomas Hobbes, philosopher.

jaunty is a borrowing from French.

Etymons: French gentil

Nearby entries

• jaunish | jawnish, adj. 1597
• jaunsel, v. 1590
• jaunt, n.¹ 1597–
• jaunt, n.² 1706–21
• jaunt, v. 1570–
• jauntily, adv. 1828–
• jauntiness, n. 1712–
• jaunting-car, n. 1805–
• jauntingly, adv. 1839–
• jaunty, n. 1902–
• jaunty, adj. 1662–
• jaup | jawp, n. 1513–
• jaup | jawp, v. 1513–
• Java, n. 1743–
• javaite, n. 1938–
• Javan, adj. & n. 1606–
• javanais, n. 1925–
• Javanese, adj. & n. 1704–
• javanicin, n. 1946–
• javanite, n. 1957–
• javar, n. 1600–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for jaunty, adj..

jaunty, adj. was first published in 1900; not yet revised.

jaunty, adj. was last modified in December 2023.

Revision of the OED is a long-term project. Entries in oed.com which have not been revised may include:

• corrections and revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations which have been added in subsequent print and online updates.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into jaunty, adj. in December 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1900)

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OED Second Edition (1989)

• View jaunty, a. in OED Second Edition

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How an Obscure Chinese Real Estate Start-Up Paved the Way to TikTok

Court records, mistakenly made public, tell a story about the birth of ByteDance, its bumpy road to success and the role of the Republican megadonor Jeff Yass’s firm.

By Mara Hvistendahl and Lauren Hirsch

Mara Hvistendahl is an investigative reporter focusing on Asia, and Lauren Hirsch covers deals and the biggest stories on Wall Street.

In 2009, long before Jeff Yass became a Republican megadonor, his firm, Susquehanna International Group, invested in a Chinese real estate start-up that boasted a sophisticated search algorithm.

The company, 99Fang, promised to help buyers find their perfect homes. Behind the scenes, employees of a Chinese subsidiary of Mr. Yass’s firm were so deeply involved, records show, that they conceived the idea for the company and handpicked its chief executive. They said in one email that he was not the company’s “real founder.”

As a real estate venture, 99Fang ultimately fizzled. But it was significant, according to a lawsuit by former Susquehanna contractors, because of what it spawned. They say that 99Fang’s chief executive — and the search technology — resurfaced at another Susquehanna venture: ByteDance.

ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, is now one of the world’s most highly valued start-ups, worth $225 billion , according to CB Insights, a firm that tracks venture capital. ByteDance is also at the center of a tempest on Capitol Hill, where some lawmakers see the company as a threat to American security. They are considering a bill that could break up the company. The man picked by Susquehanna to run the housing site, Zhang Yiming, became ByteDance’s founder.

Court documents reveal a complex origin story for ByteDance and TikTok. The records include emails, chat messages and memos from inside Susquehanna. They describe a middling business experiment, founder-investor tension and, ultimately, a powerful search engine that just needed a purpose.

The records also show that Mr. Yass’s firm was more deeply involved in TikTok’s genesis than previously known. It has been widely reported in The New York Times and elsewhere that Susquehanna owns roughly 15 percent of ByteDance , but the documents make clear that the firm was no passive investor. It nurtured Mr. Zhang’s career and signed off on the idea for the company.

Susquehanna has tens of billions of dollars at stake as lawmakers debate whether TikTok gives its Chinese owner the power to sow discord and spread disinformation among Americans. As Susquehanna’s founder, Mr. Yass potentially has billions riding on the outcome of the debate.

Mr. Yass, a former professional poker player, is also the single largest donor this election cycle, with more than $46 million in contributions through the end of last year, according to OpenSecrets, a research group that tracks money in politics.

Susquehanna has turned over Mr. Yass’s emails as part of the case, according to court documents. But those emails are not included in the trove that was made public, leaving Mr. Yass’s personal involvement in ByteDance’s formation unknown.

The records surfaced in a Pennsylvania lawsuit. Former Susquehanna contractors accuse the firm of taking cutting-edge search technology to ByteDance without compensating them. Susquehanna denies the accusations, saying that ByteDance did not receive any technology from the real estate site. “These claims are without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously,” a company spokesman said.

The records were unsealed this month. After The Times downloaded them and began asking questions, lawyers for Susquehanna said that the documents had been inadvertently made public. The judge resealed them on Tuesday.

Lawyers for both parties declined to comment. ByteDance, Mr. Yass and Mr. Zhang either did not answer questions or did not respond to messages seeking comment.

While the two sides dispute the origins of ByteDance’s technology, the documents make clear that the company itself emerged from 99Fang’s real estate efforts. “Our search, image processing, recommendation, etc. are very powerful,” Mr. Zhang wrote in a 2012 email, “but these things applied to real estate are very limited.”

Rather than match buyers with homes, Mr. Zhang laid out plans that year to match users with lighthearted content, developing prototype pages called Funny Pictures and Pretty Babes. He described the new project as a “brother enterprise” that would share technology with the real estate site.

Years later, a director for Susquehanna in China would write to a colleague that the housing site deal had led to “the birth of ByteDance.”

How It All Started

In 2005, Susquehanna created the Chinese subsidiary, SIG China, to invest in start-up companies.

One early investment was Kuxun, a portal that focused on job listings, housing advertisements and travel. Mr. Zhang, then in his early 20s, was the site’s technical director, and SIG China viewed him as a promising talent.

He left the company for a job with Microsoft. But in 2009, as SIG China prepared to spin off Kuxun’s real estate section into its own venture, the investment firm lured Mr. Zhang back and installed him as the chief executive of the new company, 99Fang.

“We have recruited the top engineer of the housing channel back to lead the technical team,” SIG China employees wrote in an internal memo.

But the relationship between Mr. Zhang and SIG China was complicated, records show.

He described himself as 99Fang’s founder but owned few shares, the documents say.

In 2011, Tim Gong, an SIG China managing director, vented about Mr. Zhang amid an apparent dispute over shares. “Kuxun and 99Fang were both NOT founded by him,” Mr. Gong wrote to a colleague. The full context is not clear, but he ends the message by seeming to suggest parting ways with Mr. Zhang: “We shall let him go.”

By 2012, real estate no longer excited Mr. Zhang. After studying the life of Apple founder Steve Jobs, he said in an email to SIG China, he realized that he needed a career change. Social media opportunities were sprouting up as people bought cellphones. He suggested that 99Fang’s search technology needed a different purpose.

The degree to which Susquehanna steered Mr. Zhang’s career over the course of years has never been part of the ByteDance story. In a Chinese-language blog post , Joan Wang, an SIG employee, has written about meeting Mr. Zhang at a coffee shop to discuss what would become ByteDance. He mapped it out on a napkin, she wrote.

Internally, in an investment memo, she wrote that Mr. Zhang sought Susquehanna’s “understanding and permission” to leave 99Fang and create a new company.

‘Pretty Babes’ and a Big Gamble

Pivots in focus are common in venture investing. Less common is a change as dramatic as shifting from real estate to social media. The most successful start-ups — Facebook, WhatsApp, Alibaba — evolved in scope but not drastically in purpose.

By March 2012, court documents show, the nascent project had a new name: Xiangping, which roughly translates to “share comments.”

Mr. Zhang created a prototype app, Pretty Babes, that users seemed to enjoy, the memo read. Fragments of Xiangping’s early existence survive in archived form on the internet.

In the investment memo, Ms. Wang wrote that by selecting content for users, Xiangping could engineer virality and increase “stickiness.” Rather than have users search for what they wanted, in other words, the new company would select it for them.

“Social network technology will be used to track user behavior, predict user interest, and build relevancy and recommendation engine,” the memo reads.

ByteDance’s technology has evolved, but TikTok still delivers videos that users want to see and share. That curation is at the heart of the effort to ban TikTok. Some lawmakers fear having such a powerful algorithm in the hands of a company with Chinese ownership.

In 2012, SIG China valued the start-up at about $9 million and invested a little over $2 million. Its lawyers said in court documents that it had since “contributed hundreds of millions in further investments.”

From there, the company’s story is well known. It rebranded itself as ByteDance and bought the lip sync app Musical.ly, which it used as the foundation for TikTok . By 2018, ByteDance had become one of the world’s most valuable private technology companies.

Susquehanna’s bet on an unproven founder is not rare. What’s unique about ByteDance is that it paid off so well.

“Part of it is they saw something,” said Steven Kaplan, who researches private equity and venture capital at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. “Part of it is they got lucky.”

What’s Next?

The Pennsylvania court case may ultimately go before a jury, but no trial date has been set.

The House passed a bill in March that could force the sale of TikTok , and a Senate vote could come as soon as next week.

In addition to his campaign donations, Mr. Yass has funded a major advocacy drive through the libertarian Club for Growth to prevent the banning of TikTok. That has shown mixed results so far, as many House members backed by the group voted for a ban.

As with many pieces of legislation, former President Donald J. Trump is a wild card in the bill’s passage. As president, he tried to force a sale of TikTok. But he has since reversed his stance. He has also acknowledged meeting briefly with Mr. Yass but said that they never discussed TikTok.

Liu Yi contributed reporting, and Kitty Bennett contributed research.

Mara Hvistendahl is an investigative reporter for The Times focused on Asia. More about Mara Hvistendahl

Lauren Hirsch joined The Times from CNBC in 2020, covering deals and the biggest stories on Wall Street. More about Lauren Hirsch

The Rise of TikTok

News and Analysis

Court records, mistakenly made public, reveal a complex origin story for ByteDance , the Chinese owner of TikTok, and the role played by the firm of Republican megadonor Jeff Yass .

The House made another push to force through legislation that would require the sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner or ban the app in the United States by packaging the measure with aid to Ukraine and Israel .

By targeting TikTok, the United States may undermine its decades-long efforts to promote an open internet , and digital rights advocates are worried that other countries could follow suit.

“Being labeled a “yapper” on TikTok isn’t necessarily a compliment, but on a platform built on talk, it isn’t an insult either .

“Who TF Did I Marry?!?,” the TikTok user Reesa Teesa’s account of her relationship with her ex-husband, is a story for grown-ups  in their midlife crisis era.

Return fraud is a rampant problem  for both shoppers and retailers — and the mishaps often make for viral videos on TikTok.

The Pink Stuff, a home cleaning paste, went from total obscurity to viral sensation — and Walmart staple — thanks to one “cleanfluencer” and her legion of fans .