torrid

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The Word of the Day for March 27 is:

torrid   \TOR-id\   adjective
         1: parched with heat especially of the sun : hot
       *2 : ardent, passionate

Example sentence:
         As she cleaned out the attic, Monica was shocked to 
find a box filled with torrid love letters that her grandfather 
had written to her grandmother.

Did you know?
          "Torrid" derives from the Latin verb "torrere," which 
means "to burn" or "to parch" and is an ancestor of our 
word "toast." Despite the dry implications of this root, it is 
also an ancestor of "torrent," which can refer to a violent 
stream of liquid (as in "a torrent of rain"). "Torrid" first 
appeared in English in the 16th century, and was originally used 
to describe something burned or scorched by exposure to the sun. 
The term "torrid zone" later came about to refer to tropical 
regions of the Earth. By the end of that century the word had 
taken on the extended meaning that we know today -- suggesting 
fiery passion.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentenc