Pronounced: ARE-gus, noun
Notes: This was a close one; you may know this word. I was close
Yesterday’s word
The word lutestring is “a glossy silk fabric”
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Background / Comments
Our word has nothing to do with strings for the instrument called a lute. It turns out to be people mis-hearing (and thus corrupting) the French word lustrine, which came from the Italian word lustrino, which came from the Latin word lustrare (to make bright).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 