SubscribeWednesday’s Word LXIII
transparent
adj.. clear; having the property that light passes through it almost undisturbed
Transparent is a common word; I’ve known it since I was a child. Slightly less well known is “translucent,” which has largely the same meaning, although the latter usually indicates a lesser degree of transparency.
With a bit of familiarity with [...]
Wednesday’s Word LXII
wont
n. a habitual way of doing things
adj. accustomed or habituated (usually to something
v. to accustom (tr.); to be accustomed (intr.)
I am wont to using this word a lot, in part because it’s a neat word and in part because it’s so useful: three forms, all the same. The only downfall is that [...]
Wednesday’s Word LXIII
khaki
n. a dull, yellowish-brown colour, the colour of dust.
n. a strong cloth of wool or cotton, often used for military uniforms, used as a school uniform color.
Khaki is everywhere; if you don’t own a pair of pants in that universal dust color, then you at least own a pair of pants in a [...]
Wednesday’s Word LXII
tremendous
adj. Notable for its size, power, or excellence.
adj. Extremely large (in amount, extent, degree, etc.) or great
Tremendous comes to us from the Latin tremendus, meaning “fearful, terrible.” Literally, it means that the described object is “to be trembled at”; the PIE base *tre[s|m], meaning “tremble,” has given rise not only to our [...]
Wednesday’s Word LXI
algebra
n. a system for computation using letters or other symbols to represent numbers, with rules for manipulating these symbols.
My brother asked me in the car the other day if I knew what the -gebra portion of algebra meant; he knew it was Arabic in nature, and therefore almost certain a construction of the [...]
Wednesday’s Word LX
robot
n. A mechanical or virtual, artificial agent.
n. An electro-mechanical system, which, by its appearance or movements, conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own.
It seems as though robots have always been a staple of science fiction. Whether heavily anthropomorphic (such as R2D2 or C3PO in Star Wars) or [...]
Recent Comments
-
If you mean the current, theme, I can’t take the credit for that. It’s Renegade, by...
-
I’ve just stumbled upon your site and wanted to tell you how great I think your...
-
just found out about the other book myself, waiting for it to be delivered. i dont blame you for...
-
It’s interesting that the filmmakers (or the screenwriter) made the decision to approach the...
-
To be fair, I think Sendak himself turned a 10-page children’s book into a clever allegory of a...
-
