Word of the Day
felicitate
verb (used with object)
to compliment upon a happy event; congratulate.
More about felicitate
The verb felicitate comes from Late Latin 蹿脓濒墨肠颈迟腻迟耻蝉, past participle of 蹿脓濒墨肠颈迟腻谤别 鈥渢o make happy,鈥� a derivative of the Latin adjective 蹿脓濒颈虫 (inflectional stem 蹿脓濒墨肠-) 鈥渇ruitful, fertile, rich, auspicious, wealthy, lucky, blessed.鈥� Related Latin words include 蹿脓肠耻苍诲耻蝉 鈥渇ertile, fruitful鈥� (English fecund); 蹿脓濒腻谤别 鈥渢o suckle鈥�; 蹿脓尘颈苍补 鈥渨oman, female鈥� (English feminine); and 蹿墨濒颈耻蝉 and 蹿墨濒颈补 鈥渟on, daughter鈥� (from which English has filial). The Latin forms derive from the Proto-Indo-European root 诲丑脓-, 诲丑脓i-, dhi– 鈥渢o suck, suckle.鈥� From that root Sanskrit has 诲丑腻测补– 鈥渘ourishing,鈥� 诲丑腻迟谤墨 鈥渨et nurse, mother,鈥� and 诲丑岣梟腻 鈥渕ilch cow.鈥� Greek has 迟丑脓濒岣� 鈥渕other鈥檚 breast, nipple,鈥� 迟丑岣梟颈辞苍 鈥渕颈濒办,鈥� 迟颈迟丑岣梟脓 (also 迟铆迟丑脓) 鈥渨et nurse.鈥� Among the Celtic languages, Old Irish has 诲墨苍耻 鈥渓amb鈥� and the verb 诲墨迟丑 鈥�(he) sucked鈥�; Breton has denaff 鈥�(I) suck,鈥� and Welsh dynu 鈥�(to) suck.鈥� Felicitate entered English in the first half of the 17th century.
how is felicitate used?
Mrs. Smithers, you will also permit me to felicitate you upon this happy event.
The novelists appear to felicitate themselves in all sincerity upon their success …
biomorph
noun
a painted, drawn, or sculptured free form or design suggestive in shape of a living organism, especially an ameba or protozoan: The paintings of Joan Mir贸 are often notable for their playful, bright-colored biomorphs.
More about biomorph
Biomorph is easily broken down to the combining forms bio– and –morph, both Greek in origin and both thoroughly naturalized in English. Bio– comes from Greek 产铆辞蝉 鈥渓ife, mode of life, the world we live in鈥� (产铆辞蝉 does not mean “animal life,” which is 锄艒岣�). The combining form –morph comes from the Greek combining form –尘辞谤辫丑贸蝉, a derivative of the noun 尘辞谤辫丑岣� 鈥渇orm, shape, beauty.鈥� 惭辞谤辫丑岣� may perhaps be related to Latin forma, perhaps via Etruscan (the usual suspect). Biomorph entered English at the end of the 19th century.
how is biomorph used?
She painted biomorphs and wonky grids within the defined parameters of the picture plane ….
There is nothing bitter or sweet about this antsy, unnamable biomorph; refusing to stay put in its own painterly space, it reels … into ours 鈥� willfully rude and buoyantly playful, a jolt of unalloyed energy.
lambent
adjective
dealing lightly and gracefully with a subject; brilliantly playful: lambent wit.
More about lambent
Lambent comes straight from Latin lambent-, the inflectional stem of the present participle 濒补尘产脓苍蝉, from the verb lambere 鈥渢o lick, (of food or liquid) lick up, suck up, absorb.鈥� Lambere has the transferred senses “(of fire) to play upon, lick,鈥� “(of water) to wash, bathe,鈥� and “(of creeping plants) to surround, wreathe.鈥� The only English sense deriving from the Latin is 鈥渞unning or moving lightly over a surface鈥�; the other senses, including “dealing lightly and gracefully with a subject,” developed within English. Lambent entered English in the mid-17th century.
how is lambent used?
There is the lightning wit that flashes of a short sentence or an apt reply, and there is the lambent wit that sparkles either by description or dialogue.
He goes to Oxford, where his lambent gift of tongues is recognized and encouraged, and then to war, where everything he values is laid waste.