spandrel noun Architecture: the almost triangular space between one side of the outer curve of an arch, a wall, and the ceiling or framework. spandrel • the space between the shoulders of adjoining arches and the ceiling or moulding above. ORIGIN late Middle English: perhaps from Anglo-Norman French spaund(e)re, or from espaundre ‘expand’.l
epiphyte noun Botany: a plant that grows on another plant, especially one that is not parasitic, such as the numerous ferns, bromeliads, air plants, and orchids growing on tree trunks in tropical rainforests. DERIVATIVES epiphytal adjective, epiphytic| adjective ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: from epi-‘in addition’ + Greek phuton ‘plant’.
I recognize this. I have friends in Oakville who have a big old fir tree on the uppermost branches of which is growing an epiphyte.
acromion In human anatomy, the acromion (from Greek: akros, "highest", ōmos, "shoulder", plural: acromia) is a bony process on the scapula (shoulder blade). Together with the coracoid process it extends laterally over the shoulder joint.
I don’t know where I read this.
immitigable immitigable adjective archaic unable to be made less severe or serious: the pain was immitigable. DERIVATIVES immitigably adverb ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from late Latin immitigabilis, from in- ‘not’ + mitigabilis ‘able to be mitigated’.
I know and have used mitigate [ verb [ with obj. ]make (something bad) less severe, serious, or painful: drainage schemes have helped to mitigate this problem. • lessen the gravity of (an offence or mistake): (as adj.mitigating) : he would have faced a prison sentence but for mitigating circumstances.] but I have never seen or used immitigable (Virginia Woolf).
mitosis noun (pl.mitoses) [ mass noun ] Biology: a type of cell division that results in two daughter cells each having the same number and kind of chromosomes as the parent nucleus, typical of ordinary tissue growth. the single large egg cell subdivides by repeated mitosis. [ count noun ] : each mitosis seems to be associated with an increase in calcium. DERIVATIVES mitotic |-ˈtɒtɪk| adjective ORIGIN late 19th cent.: modern Latin, from Greek mitos ‘thread’.
I dunno where I read this.
orrery noun (pl.orreries): a clockwork model of the solar system, or of just the sun, earth, and moon. ORIGIN early 18th cent.: named after the fourth Earl of Orrery, for whom one was made.
I MAY NEVER USE THIS BUT I LIKE IT.
OKAY, here’s one. You know it.
flaunt Okay as a verb but I read it used as a noun!
flaunt |verb [ with obj. ] display (something) ostentatiously, especially in order to provoke envy or admiration or to show defiance: newly rich consumers eager to flaunt their prosperity. • (flaunt oneself) dress or behave in a sexually provocative way. DERIVATIVES flaunter noun, THERE! HAVE YOU EVER READ THAT? flaunty adjective ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: of unknown origin. BUT HEY, HERE COMES A USEFUL REMINDER, ONE OF MY FAVDURITES:
usage: Flaunt and flout may sound similar but they have different meanings. Flaunt means ‘display ostentatiously’, as in visitors who liked to flaunt their wealth, while flout means ‘openly disregard a rule or convention’, as in new recruits growing their hair and flouting convention. It is a common error, recorded since around the 1940s, to use flaunt when flout is intended, as in the young woman had been flaunting the rules and regulations. In the Oxford English Corpus the second and third commonest objects of flaunt, after wealth, are law and rules.
cresset noun historical: a metal container of oil, grease, wood, or coal set alight for illumination and typically mounted on a pole. ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French, from craisse, variant of graisse ‘oil, grease’.
Shakespeare, anyone? Stratfrord uses cressets al the time, but very carefiully.
fulvous | adjective: reddish yellow; tawny. ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Latin fulvus + -ous.
I did not know this. Such a nice little word.
bloviate verb [ no obj. ] US informal: talk at length, especially in an inflated or empty way. DERIVATIVES bloviation noun, bloviator noun ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: perhaps from blow1.
It doesn’t sound informal to me. it’s not a pretty word. (Remember Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest: “It isn’t at all a becoming language. I know perfectly well that I look plain after my German lesson.”)
One last thing from my little pieces of paper:The Three Fates: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos: “In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Moirai often known in English as the Fates (Latin: ).... Lachesis sings the things that were, Clotho the things that are, and Atropos the things that are to be.” Wikipedia
Stick with me,kid, and you’ll be a whiz at Trivial Pursuit.