كلمات هذا اليوم Abeyance / Epiboly / Thalassic

[عبد الحفيظ جباري]

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته،
إلى الواتاويين كلمات هذا اليوم.
والسلام عليكم.

Abeyance (noun)
Pronunciation: [ê-'bey-ênts]

Definition: Suspension, temporary inactivity; also, a lapse in succession between political leaders or a legal condition of non-ownership, when ownership of an estate has not been assigned.

Usage: "Abeyant" is the adjective form of today's word and means "being in abeyance." "Abeyance" is a mass noun with no plural. It is most often used in the phrase "in abeyance," meaning "suspended, held up."

Suggested Usage: A very apropos sentence presents itself for today's word: "King Edward the Confessor's death in 1066 left an abeyance that led to the Norman Invasion—which gave us today's word." The word has a lot of uses in today's business environment, as well, "The executive board meeting was left in abeyance when the police arrested the chairman." You never know these days when this phrase will come in handy.

Etymology: This word comes to us most recently from Anglo-Norman, the language that grew in England after the Norman Invasion of 1066. The Normans brought their legal system with them, along with nobles to run the newly conquered country, and installed their codes into the Anglo-Saxon system. The Old French was abeance "desire" from abaer "to gape at" itself from a- "at" + baer "to gape." "Baer" apparently comes from Vulgar Latin "*badare" but little is known of the origin of this word. In Middle English, the English that evolved from the pairing of Norman French and Anglo-Saxon, baer turned into baee "an opening" and, finally, to "bay" in the same sense.

–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
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Epiboly (noun)
Pronunciation: [i-'pi-bê-lee]

Definition: The growth of one part about another, as rapidly dividing cells grow around a more slowly dividing group.

Usage: Today's word comes to us from embryology, a specialization of biology engaged in research on the prenatal development of organisms. Its use is usually restricted to the medical profession but today we are going to suggest kidnapping it for the linguistic benefit of the general population. The adjective is epibolic [e-pê-'bah-lik].


Suggested Usage: The metaphorical applications of the broad concept explode on the fertile mind: "Giles is rarely seen without his new epiboly, Gladys, with her arms wrapped around his neck." Abstract epibolies are not difficult to spot, either, "Daria's new train-spotting hobby has turned out to be a heavy epiboly on her already busy schedule!"


Etymology: From Greek epibole "addition" from epiballein "to throw on." Epiballein results from epi- "on, over, at" + ballein "to throw." Before you ask, yes, we do get "ball" from the same origin but the one meaning the dance you throw. The round object, ball, devolved from the same source as English "blow," "balloon," "boulevard," and, of course, "bull." Here we see how etymological change can lead to identical unrelated words as surely as it can lead to radically different related words.


-- Dr. Language, yourDictionary.com
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Thalassic (adjective)
Pronunciation: [thê-'læ-sik]

Definition: Pertaining to the sea; marine.

Usage: This is a euphonic onomatopoeic alternative to "marine." The liquid [l] and hissing [s] give the word more semblance of sea sounds than does "marine." The mind swoons at the thought of the illustrious members of the thalass- word family: "When England ruled the seas, it was a thalassocracy," "In college Mary is studying endangered thalassians—sea turtles," and "It's cool to study thalassography by walking along the seashore."

Suggested Usage: We may speak of thalassic smells or colors and the thalassic civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea. Thalassic rocks are those composed of sediments of the sea. We can dream thalassic dreams until the occasion for a thalassic respite from work presents itself. Wouldn't you much prefer a thalassic respite to shelling out for a vacation at the shore?

Etymology: The adjective "thalassic" goes back to Greek thalassa "sea." It was made memorable by Xenophon in his "Anabasis" as the cry of the Greek mercenaries recruited by Cyrus the Younger to fight in Persia. Upon return to their homeland, when they first saw the Black Sea that would lead them to Greece, they shouted, "Thalassa, thalassa."

–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
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Unctuous (adjective)
Pronunciation: ['ungk-chu-wês]

Definition 1: Having the qualities of an unguent: oily or greasy; soft and rich, as "unctuous soil."

Usage 1: The meaning is very close to that of "smarmy," a previous YDC Word of the Day.

Definition 2: Insincerely and exaggeratedly earnest; obsequious.
Suggested Usage: Minerals are sometimes unctuous, having a slippery, oily feel. Fatty meats are unctuous. Unctuous fingers may result from eating unctuous meat. Overly solicitous people are also unctuous in a different sense: "We were met outside by an unctuous doorman building the impression that his life was devoted solely to us."

Etymology: From Latin unctum "ointment," the neuter past participle of unguere "to anoint."

–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

[عبد الحفيظ جباري]

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته،
إلى الواتاويين كلمات هذا اليوم.
والسلام عليكم.

Abeyance (noun)
Pronunciation: [ê-'bey-ênts]

Definition: Suspension, temporary inactivity; also, a lapse in succession between political leaders or a legal condition of non-ownership, when ownership of an estate has not been assigned.

Usage: "Abeyant" is the adjective form of today's word and means "being in abeyance." "Abeyance" is a mass noun with no plural. It is most often used in the phrase "in abeyance," meaning "suspended, held up."

Suggested Usage: A very apropos sentence presents itself for today's word: "King Edward the Confessor's death in 1066 left an abeyance that led to the Norman Invasion—which gave us today's word." The word has a lot of uses in today's business environment, as well, "The executive board meeting was left in abeyance when the police arrested the chairman." You never know these days when this phrase will come in handy.

Etymology: This word comes to us most recently from Anglo-Norman, the language that grew in England after the Norman Invasion of 1066. The Normans brought their legal system with them, along with nobles to run the newly conquered country, and installed their codes into the Anglo-Saxon system. The Old French was abeance "desire" from abaer "to gape at" itself from a- "at" + baer "to gape." "Baer" apparently comes from Vulgar Latin "*badare" but little is known of the origin of this word. In Middle English, the English that evolved from the pairing of Norman French and Anglo-Saxon, baer turned into baee "an opening" and, finally, to "bay" in the same sense.

–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
******************************************
Epiboly (noun)
Pronunciation: [i-'pi-bê-lee]

Definition: The growth of one part about another, as rapidly dividing cells grow around a more slowly dividing group.

Usage: Today's word comes to us from embryology, a specialization of biology engaged in research on the prenatal development of organisms. Its use is usually restricted to the medical profession but today we are going to suggest kidnapping it for the linguistic benefit of the general population. The adjective is epibolic [e-pê-'bah-lik].


Suggested Usage: The metaphorical applications of the broad concept explode on the fertile mind: "Giles is rarely seen without his new epiboly, Gladys, with her arms wrapped around his neck." Abstract epibolies are not difficult to spot, either, "Daria's new train-spotting hobby has turned out to be a heavy epiboly on her already busy schedule!"


Etymology: From Greek epibole "addition" from epiballein "to throw on." Epiballein results from epi- "on, over, at" + ballein "to throw." Before you ask, yes, we do get "ball" from the same origin but the one meaning the dance you throw. The round object, ball, devolved from the same source as English "blow," "balloon," "boulevard," and, of course, "bull." Here we see how etymological change can lead to identical unrelated words as surely as it can lead to radically different related words.


-- Dr. Language, yourDictionary.com
*********************************************
Thalassic (adjective)
Pronunciation: [thê-'læ-sik]

Definition: Pertaining to the sea; marine.

Usage: This is a euphonic onomatopoeic alternative to "marine." The liquid [l] and hissing [s] give the word more semblance of sea sounds than does "marine." The mind swoons at the thought of the illustrious members of the thalass- word family: "When England ruled the seas, it was a thalassocracy," "In college Mary is studying endangered thalassians—sea turtles," and "It's cool to study thalassography by walking along the seashore."

Suggested Usage: We may speak of thalassic smells or colors and the thalassic civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea. Thalassic rocks are those composed of sediments of the sea. We can dream thalassic dreams until the occasion for a thalassic respite from work presents itself. Wouldn't you much prefer a thalassic respite to shelling out for a vacation at the shore?

Etymology: The adjective "thalassic" goes back to Greek thalassa "sea." It was made memorable by Xenophon in his "Anabasis" as the cry of the Greek mercenaries recruited by Cyrus the Younger to fight in Persia. Upon return to their homeland, when they first saw the Black Sea that would lead them to Greece, they shouted, "Thalassa, thalassa."

–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
*****************************************
Unctuous (adjective)
Pronunciation: ['ungk-chu-wês]

Definition 1: Having the qualities of an unguent: oily or greasy; soft and rich, as "unctuous soil."

Usage 1: The meaning is very close to that of "smarmy," a previous YDC Word of the Day.

Definition 2: Insincerely and exaggeratedly earnest; obsequious.
Suggested Usage: Minerals are sometimes unctuous, having a slippery, oily feel. Fatty meats are unctuous. Unctuous fingers may result from eating unctuous meat. Overly solicitous people are also unctuous in a different sense: "We were met outside by an unctuous doorman building the impression that his life was devoted solely to us."

Etymology: From Latin unctum "ointment," the neuter past participle of unguere "to anoint."

–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com