GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

shofar

/ˈʃəʊfə/
noun Plural shofars, Plural shofroth
A ram's-horn trumpet formerly used by Jews as an ancient battle signal and now used in Jewish religious ceremonies.

Origin
From Hebrew šōp̱ār, (plural) šōp̱ārōṯ.

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Micah signaled with the shofar and the ceremony began.

[Algot Runeman]

ophiology

/ɒfɪˈɒlədʒi/
noun
mass noun
The branch of zoology that deals with snakes.

Origin
Early 19th century: from Greek ophis ‘snake’ + -logy.

==========

One day, Opie Taylor brought home a garter snake. Andy was interested, but Aunt Bee was not pleased, having no interest in ophiology. Barney Fife jumped up onto the coffee table, of course.

[Algot Runeman]

chatoyant


/ʃəˈtɔɪənt/
adjective
(of a gem, especially when cut en cabochon) showing a band of bright lustre caused by reflection from inclusions in the stone.

Origin
Late 18th century: French, present participle of chatoyer ‘to shimmer’.

==========

Carlo collected cat's eye gemstones because they had a chatoyant shimmer, making him feel that he too might shine some day.

[voralfred]

I am not an expert in ophiology, but the image of the chatoyant gemstone just above made me think of a snake's eye rather than a cat's eye.

[Algot Runeman]

cosmography

/kɒzˈmɒɡrəfi/
noun - Plural cosmographies
mass noun
1 The branch of science which deals with the general features of the universe, including the earth.
1.1 count noun A description or representation of the universe or the earth.

Origin
Late Middle English: from French cosmographie, or via late Latin from Greek kosmographia, from kosmos (see cosmos) + -graphia ‘writing’.

Carl's cosmography encompassed the Earth, moon and sun. He ignored all the stars and other system planets, judging them to be too far away to bother with. Few read his self-published papers.

[Algot Runeman]

profligate

/ˈprɒflɪɡət/
adjective
1 Recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources.
2 Licentious; dissolute.
noun
A licentious, dissolute person.

Origin
Mid 16th century (in the sense ‘overthrown, routed’): from Latin profligatus ‘dissolute’, past participle of profligare ‘overthrow, ruin’, from pro- ‘forward, down’ + fligere ‘strike down’.

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It is clear that the web editors at ODO were not profligate during their raucous New Year's celebration, probably too liberal in their libations. They were downright stingy, sticking to the past.This morning, their web page repeated cosmography from yesterday. Ouch! Having gone to bed well before midnight, your intrepid word guide has your back, picking a word from elsewhere to meet the new year's need. Happy 2018, everyone.

[Algot Runeman]

Stevengraph

/ˈstiːv(ə)nɡrɑːf/
noun
A type of small picture made from brightly coloured woven silk, produced during the late 19th century.

Origin
Named after Thomas Stevens (1828–88), English weaver, whose firm made them.

==========

Stan stood and stared at the framed Stevengraph, trying to imagine a Jaquard loom setup which would produce such fine detail from woven threads.


by Neyret Freres - Charming Scene LINK

[Okay, I did try making my own Stevengraph illustration. Somehow, it did not do the idea justice.]

[Algot Runeman]

balmoral

/balˈmɒr(ə)l/
noun
1 A round brimless hat with a cockade or ribbons attached, worn by certain Scottish regiments.
2 A heavy laced leather walking boot.

Origin
Mid 19th century (in balmoral (sense 2)): named after Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

Bob enjoyed his walk through the hills, wearing both his balmoral on his head and a pair of boots which might have qualified, too. He didn't wear a kilt.

[Algot Runeman]

sleet

/sliːt/
noun
mass noun
1 Rain containing some ice, as when snow melts as it falls.
1.1 US A thin coating of ice formed by sleet or rain freezing on coming into contact with a cold surface.
verb
[no object]it sleets", "it is sleeting, etc.
Sleet falls.

Origin
Middle English: of Germanic origin; probably related to Middle Low German slōten (plural) ‘hail’ and German Schlosse ‘hailstone’.

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Barry prognosticated the precipitation, saying he expected the coast would mainly have sleet and rain. Inland, with lower temperatures, there would be significant snow.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

sleet

...
Weathermen tend to use their own terms and expressions.

Especially in winter to obfuscate cursing and invectives for bad weather, they often speak "513375p34k"

Unhide to translate:

Spoiler: show

In standard language that is: sleetspeak !

[Algot Runeman]

escargot

/ɛˈskɑːɡəʊ//ɛˈskɑːɡəʊ/
noun
The edible snail, especially as an item on a menu.

Origin
French, from Old French escargol, from Provençal escaragol.

==========@

Étienne entertained everyone with escargots.

[Algot Runeman]

congius

/ˈkɒndʒɪəs/
noun - Plural congii
An ancient Roman liquid measure of one eighth of an amphora, equal in modern terms to about 6 imperial pints.

Origin
Latin.

==========

Charles was not conscious that his mostly full gallon jug happened to contain exactly one Roman congius. No matter, by midnight, it would be empty.

Tomorrow he'd fill it again at the still.




Chart Source: Wikipedia

[Algot Runeman]

sulcus

/ˈsʌlkəs/
noun Plural sulci
Anatomy
A groove or furrow, especially one on the surface of the brain.

Origin
Mid 17th century: from Latin, ‘furrow, wrinkle’.

==========

Puzzling over the program code, Walter could almost feel the sulci of his brain wrinkling deeper. The code, while clear on its face, was bending his mind, something fierce.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

sulcus

Some heroic people never stopped fighting in the trenches.

They still doggedly continue the struggle in the dental sulci.

They're called periodontists.

[Algot Runeman]

periodontists: unsung heroes of our times! Never should they sulk. Us need to make them happy.

[voralfred]

A long cogitation that had to mobilize all the sulci on the surface of my brain led me to conclude that Charles was american.
Had he been british, his gallon jug would be less than 3/4 full, rather than "mostly full", if it contained just one congius.

Anyone has a cyathus, or even better, an acetabulum, of brandy ?
Note that I am not profligate : I wouldn't consider drinking as much as a quartarius of strong liquor !

[Algot Runeman]

Anyone has a cyathus, or even better, an acetabulum, of brandy ?
Note that I am not profligate : I wouldn't consider drinking as much as a quartarius of strong liquor !

Ah, voralfred, your prose speaks volumes!

[Algot Runeman]

Lipizzaner
(also Lippizaner)

/ˌlɪpɪˈtsɑːnə//ˌlɪpɪˈzeɪnə/
noun
A horse of a fine white breed used especially in displays of dressage.

Origin
Early 20th century: from German, from Lippiza, site of the former Austrian Imperial stud near Trieste.

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Lawrence loved dressage. Pauli, his beloved Lipizzaner, bore him majestically around the ring, seeming to feel equal pride in his performance.

[Algot Runeman]

carbonara

/ˌkɑːbəˈnɑːrə/
adjective
Denoting a pasta sauce made with bacon or ham, egg, and cream.
postpositive ‘spaghetti carbonara’

Origin
Italian, literally ‘charcoal kiln’, perhaps influenced by carbonata, a dish of charcoal-grilled salt pork.

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For the record, my wife makes the best spaghetti carbonara I have ever had!

[Kahrey]

Can your wife bring me some spaghetti carbonara, please? Thanks.

[Algot Runeman]

Just a minute, Kahrey, I'll ask her.

[Algot Runeman]

squadron

/ˈskwɒdrən/
noun
1 An operational unit in an air force consisting of two or more flights of aircraft and the personnel required to fly them.
1.1 A principal division of an armoured or cavalry regiment, consisting of two or more troops.
1.2 A group of warships detached on a particular duty or under the command of a flag officer.
1.3 informal A large group of people or things.
(escadrille - A French squadron of aircraft.)

Origin
Mid 16th century (originally denoting a group of soldiers in square formation): from Italian squadrone, from squadra ‘square’.

Alphonse directed the squadron toward it's destination. As commander, he had high hopes the entire escadrille would reach the far wall of the living room.

[Today's word was officially "escadrille", but the contrast of the scope of definitions was too interesting to ignore.]

[Algot Runeman]

gauge
(US gage)

/ɡeɪdʒ/
noun
1 An instrument that measures and gives a visual display of the amount, level, or contents of something.
1.1 A tool for checking whether something conforms to a desired dimension.
1.2 A means of estimating something.
2 The thickness, size, or capacity of something, especially as a standard measure.
2.1 The diameter of a wire, fibre, tube, etc.
2.2 in combination A measure of the diameter of a gun barrel, or of its ammunition, expressed as the number of spherical pieces of shot of the same diameter as the barrel that can be made from 1 lb (454 g) of lead.
as modifier ‘a 12-gauge shotgun’
2.3 in combination The thickness of sheet metal or plastic. - as modifier ‘500-gauge polythene’
2.4 The distance between the rails of a line of railway track.
3 Nautical - archaic The position of a sailing ship to windward (the weather gage) or leeward (the lee gage) of another.

Origin

Middle English (denoting a standard measure): from Old French gauge (noun), gauger (verb), variant of Old Northern French jauge (noun), jauger (verb), of unknown origin.

============

This 3D-printed track set has a gauge of 36mm between the rails.

[[It was only after an early morning appointment that I gauged the amount of time still left before the day got away from me, so I quickly checked to see if this word was available. Luck was with me, and I had an illustrative image ready to go.]]

[Algot Runeman]

metanoia

/ˌmɛtəˈnɔɪə/
noun
mass noun
Change in one's way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion.

Origin
Late 19th century: from Greek, from metanoein ‘change one's mind’.

==========

Since we met, I thought to know ya'.
But once a year you change.
Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Muslim...next?
Your way of life is metanoia.

[Algot Runeman]

upcycle

/ˈʌpsʌɪk(ə)l/
verb
[with object]
Reuse (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original.

Origin
1990s: blend of up- and recycle.

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Though some would argue the increase of value, Bob was happy to use upcycled pallet wood to make bird feeders.