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WORD OF THE DAY..........courtesy of Dictionary.com
Mandy21:
Unfortunately, their choice of words hasn't really tripped my trigger enough to comment lately, Janice, but I *am* still reading every one you post. Thank you.
ifyoucantfixit:
volant \VOH-luhnt\, adjective:
1. Moving lightly; nimble.
2. Engaged in or having the power of flight.
noun:
1. Also called volant piece. Armor. A reinforcing piece for the brow of a helmet.
But here in the present case, to carry on the volant metaphor, (for I must either be merry or mad) is a pretty little Miss, just, come out of her hanging-sleeve coat, brought to buy a pretty little fairing; for the world, Jack, is but a great fair thou knowest; and, to give thee serious reflection for serious, all its toys but tinselled hobby horses, gilt gingerbread, squeaking trumpets, painted drums, and so forth.
-- Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Or, The History of a Young Lady
With Rube winging it that spring, the band blared, and the volant baseball team was unbeatable.
-- Alan Howard Levy, Rube Waddell
Volant stems from the Latin word volāre which meant "to fly". In English, it acquired the sense of moving nimbly in the early 1600s.
This is a very odd word. IMO. I am not sure it is even needed. I place it here, because they presented it. Not because I will probably ever use it. I suppose these words are more for us to know if we encounter them. Than for us to necessarily use ourselves.
I am sorry you havent cared for most of them, but I don't mind. I don't have a particular attachment for them.
I do thank you for continuing to read them however.
ifyoucantfixit:
pensée \pahn-SEY\, noun:
A reflection or thought.
He rose from his deep chair and at his desk entered on the first page of a new notebook a pensee: The penalty of sloth is longevity.
-- Evelyn Waugh, Unconditional Surrender
In a pensee that could have been cribbed from Mae West's daybook, she also said, “If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married!”
-- Karen Karbo, How to Hepburn
Pensée comes directly from the French word of the same spelling which means "a thought".
*Quite certain this is the root word for the word pensive, as well. The word pensive being the verb form of pensee.
Being in a pensive mood, she also said, "If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married."
ifyoucantfixit:
noctilucent \nok-tuh-LOO-suhnt\, adjective:
Visible during the short night of the summer.
So Sax would sit on the Western sea cliff, rapt through the setting of the sun, then stay through the hour of twilight, watching the sky colors change as the sun's shadow rose up, until all the sky was black; and then sometimes there would appear noctilucent clouds, thirty kilometers above the planet, broad streaks gleaming like abalone shells.
-- Kim Stanley Robinson, Blue Mars
The shells of 155-mm howitzers whistled away through the dark air, orange flashes popped like noctilucent flowers on the western ridge of Hon Heo Mountain and disappeared shortly after, and then the sound of explosions rumbled through the ground.
-- Junghyo Ahn, White Badge
Noctilucent entered English in the late 1800s. It is a combination of the prefix nocti- (which means "night") and lucent (which means "shining").
Mandy21:
Yay, I finally like this one. It's fun to say (especially if you draw out the LOO syllable), fairly easy to remember, and possible to squeeze into a conversation. Will have to look for opportunities to throw this one in:)
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