Word of the Day
sedentary
adjective
accustomed to sit or rest a great deal or to take little exercise.
More about sedentary
There is unfortunately no more apt a word right now than sedentary, 鈥渁ccustomed to sit or rest a great deal or to take little exercise.鈥� Sedentary comes via Middle French 蝉茅诲别苍迟补颈谤别 from Latin 蝉别诲别苍迟腻谤颈耻蝉 鈥渟itting, sedentary.鈥� 厂别诲别苍迟腻谤颈耻蝉 is a derivative of 蝉别诲脓苍蝉 (stem sedent-), the present participle of 蝉别诲脓谤别 鈥渢o sit,鈥� and the very common adjective and noun suffix –腻谤颈耻蝉, which becomes -aire in French and French borrowings into English (as in doctrinaire, millionaire) and –ary in English (as in complimentary, visionary). Sedentary entered English in the 16th century.
how is sedentary used?
Picture yourself, Jack, a confirmed home-body, a sedentary fellow who finds himself walking in a deep wood.
His love of books, his sedentary habits, and quick wit on matters of learning, led those interested in his fate to consider him fitted for the church, and therefore, he took priest鈥檚 orders.听
sedentary
inflorescence
noun
a flowering or blossoming.
More about inflorescence
Inflorescence, 鈥渢he arrangement of flowers on the axis, a flower cluster; a flowering or blossoming,鈥� is a term used mostly in botany. Inflorescence comes straight from New Latin 颈苍蹿濒艒谤脓蝉肠别苍迟颈补, a noun coined by the great Swedish botanist and zoologist Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linn茅), who formalized the system of binomial nomenclature used in the biological sciences. 滨苍蹿濒艒谤脓蝉肠别苍迟颈补 is a derivative of the Late Latin verb 颈苍蹿濒艒谤脓蝉肠别谤别 鈥渢o put forth flowers, bloom.鈥� 滨苍蹿濒艒谤脓蝉肠别谤别 is a compound verb formed with the preposition and prefix in, in– 鈥渋n, into,鈥� but also, as here, used as in intensive prefix, and the verb 蹿濒艒谤脓蝉肠别谤别 鈥渢o begin flowering, increase in vigor.鈥� 贵濒艒谤脓蝉肠别谤别 in turn is a compound of 蹿濒艒谤脓谤别 鈥渢o be in bloom, be covered with flowers,鈥� a derivative of the noun 蹿濒艒蝉 (inflectional stem 蹿濒艒谤-) 鈥渇lower, blossom,鈥� and the verb suffix –escere, which in Latin often has an inchoative sense, that is, it indicates the beginning of an action, as in rubescere 鈥渢o become or turn red.鈥� Inflorescence entered English in the 18th century.
how is inflorescence used?
To the amateur this opens a field of very interesting amusement: … watching every moment of the plant till it develops its beauties of inflorescence, which, if it prove of new character, is an ample compensation for the time spent upon the process.
During fall and winter starch-grains … form the basis for that lavish expenditure of plant-force by which our orchards and woods are made glorious in the sudden inflorescence of spring.
inflorescence
saponaceous
adjective
resembling soap; soapy.
More about saponaceous
Saponaceous, 鈥渟oapy,鈥� comes straight from the New Latin adjective 蝉腻辫艒苍腻肠别耻蝉. (New Latin, also called Modern Latin, is Latin that developed after, say, 1500; it is used especially and typically in the physical sciences, such as zoology, botany, and anatomy.) 厂腻辫艒苍腻肠别耻蝉 is formed from the Latin 蝉腻辫艒 noun (inflective stem 蝉腻辫艒n-) and the adjectival suffix –腻肠别耻蝉, meaning 鈥渕ade of, resembling.鈥� 厂腻辫艒 means 鈥渁 preparation for drying or coloring one鈥檚 hair,鈥� and it is one of the relatively few words in Latin borrowed from Germanic (as compared to the many, many words in Germanic borrowed from Latin). Saponaceous also has the uncommon sense 鈥渟lippery, unctuous,鈥� which appeared in the 19th century: 鈥淭his鈥� judgment was鈥� so oily, so saponaceous, that no one could grasp it.鈥� Saponaceous entered English in the early 18th century.
how is saponaceous used?
The fruit of this plant is about the size of a large gooseberry, the outer covering or shell of which contains a听saponaceous听principle in sufficient abundance to produce a lather with water and is used as a substitute for soap.
The yolk contains natural food for the hair, iron and sulphur; while the white, being a mild alkali, finds its congenial mate in the oil from the sebaceous glands, and they mingle in a saponaceous lather.
saponaceous