The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for October 17th, 2008 was genius.  (Yes, I am a bit behind schedule in my writing. :) )

1 : a single strongly marked capacity or aptitude 2 : extraordinary intellectual power especially as manifested in creative activity 3 : a person endowed with transcendent mental superiority; especially : a person with a very high IQ

The Merriam-Webster word of the day for March 26 was dross.

1 : the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal 2 : waste or foreign matter : impurity 3 : something that is base, trivial, or inferior

The history of the word they provided included this:

"Dross" has been a part of the English language since Anglo-Saxon times; one  19th-century book on Old English vocabulary dates it back to 1050 A.D. Its Old  English ancestors are related to Germanic and Scandinavian words for "dregs" (as  in "the dregs of the coffee") — and, like "dregs," "dross" is a word for the  less-than-desirable parts of something. Over the years, the relative  worthlessness of dross has often been set in contrast to the value of gold, as  for example in British poet Christina Rossetti's "The Lowest Room": "Besides,  those days were golden days, / Whilst these are days of dross" (1875).

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for February 9, 2008 was metathesis.

a change of place or condition: as a: transposition of two phonemes in a word b: a chemical reaction in which different kinds of molecules exchange parts to  form other kinds of molecules

Merriam Webster's Word of the Day for Thursday, July 9th was inexorable.

not to be persuaded, moved, or stopped : relentless

As always, they provided interesting etymological insight into the word:

My wonderful bride, Amy, was reading Proverbs and came across this little nugget:

He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, But he who is careless of conduct will die.  (Proverbs 19:16)

When she related that passage I immediately asked the question: Does "keep" mean "retain possession of" or does it mean "guard"?  I examined the Hebrew and found this:

Shamar mitzvah shamar nepheshu botzah derekiv yevamot (transliterated from the Hebrew).

Young's Literal translates it this way:

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for June 23rd was corvine:

of or relating to the crows : resembling a crow

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for May 31st was spurious (pronounced SPYUR-ee-us).  M-W provided this definition:

1 : of illegitimate birth 2 : not genuine : false

The Merrriam-Webster Word of the Day for June 1st was tenebrous.

The definition is as follows:

1 : shut off from the light : dark, murky 2 : hard to understand : obscure 3 : causing gloom

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for May 16th was repudiate and they provided this definition:

1 : to refuse to have anything to do with : disown 2 : to refuse to acknowledge, accept, or pay

The Merriam-Webster Word of the day for May 17th was domiciliary.  Their definition was the following:

of, relating to, or constituting a domicile: as a : provided or taking place in  the home b : providing care and living space (as for disabled veterans)