51吃瓜 of the Day
arctophile
noun
a person who is very fond of and is usually a collector of teddy bears.
More about arctophile
Arctophile means just 鈥渂ear loving, bear lover,鈥� but in modern English specifically a lover of teddy bears, not grizzlies. The suffix -phile 鈥渓over of, enthusiast for鈥� is completely naturalized in English, as in cinephile, audiophile. The element arcto- comes from Greek 谩谤办迟辞蝉 鈥渂ear,鈥� the Greek result of a very widespread (and complicated in its development) Proto-Indo-European noun 峁浱乼办辞- (earlier 贬鈧傖箾虂t办辞-) 鈥渂ear鈥� (the 贬鈧� was possibly pronounced as in German Bach). Greek transposed the -tk- to -kt-. In Hittite the original 贬鈧傖箾虂tkos (spelled 岣玜谤迟补驳驳补拧 in the clumsy Hittite cuneiform) was probably pronounced hartkas, which is very close to the hypothetical form but is of uncertain meaning: the name of a predatory animal (?), a cult official (?). In the Indo-Iranian languages, Sanskrit 峁沰峁- and Avestan 补谤拧补- are regular developments from 峁浱乼办辞-. Italic (Latin) ursus has two problems: u- instead of o-, and the exact source of the first s. Celtic artos becomes art in Middle Irish, and arth in Welsh (Arthur in Welsh means 鈥渂ear man鈥�). Arctophile entered English in the 20th century.
how is arctophile used?
Unless you’re an arctophile, which is just a fancy way of saying a teddy bear devotee, the name likely doesn’t mean much, but it means a lot to collectors.
I am a past president of the American Society of Teddy Bear Collectors and have contributed dozens of articles to Teddy Bear Review and other arctophile journals.
More about nubilous
The English adjective nubilous comes straight from Latin 苍奴产颈濒耻蝉, a derivative of 苍奴产脓蝉 鈥渃loud.鈥� The uncommon Proto-Indo-European root sneudh- 鈥渇og, mist, cloud鈥� lies behind the Latin words and appears as well in several Iranian languages, e.g., Avestan snaodha- 鈥渃louds鈥� and Baluchi 苍艒诲 鈥渓ight clouds, fog鈥�; Greek 苍测迟丑贸蝉 鈥渄ark, dumb,鈥� and Welsh nudd 鈥渕ist, fog.鈥� Nubilous entered English in the 16th century.
how is nubilous used?
… it seemed, in their arbitrary disposition of the world’s affairs, the Fates had ordained that Peyton’s sky should always be nubilous …
Her azure eyes are nubilous.
More about improbity
The English noun improbity comes from Latin 颈尘辫谤辞产颈迟腻蝉 (stem 颈尘辫谤辞产颈迟腻迟-) 鈥渄ishonesty, unscrupulousness,鈥� a derivative of improbus 鈥渋nferior, improper.鈥� The parts of improbus break down fairly easily: the prefix im- is a variant of the Latin negative prefix in- used before labial consonants (e.g., b, p) from the same Proto-Indo-European source as Germanic (English) un-, Greek a-, an-, and Sanskrit a-, an-. The element pro- is from the very common (and complicated) Proto-Indo-European prefix and preposition per 鈥渇orward, through, in front of, early, first.鈥� The -bus is the same ending as in the Latin adjective superbus 鈥減roud, haughty鈥� (the ultimate source of English superb) from the Proto-Indo-European root bheu- 鈥渢o be, exist, grow,鈥� source of Germanic (English) be, Latin 蹿耻茂 鈥淚 was, have been鈥� (the perfect of esse 鈥渢o be鈥�), and Slavic (Polish) 产测膰 鈥渢o be.鈥� The original sense of probus would be 鈥済oing well, growing well,鈥� and improbus 鈥渘ot going well.鈥� Improbity entered English in the late 16th century.
how is improbity used?
But apart from these hurtful factors, the Ring itself radiated improbity. It had but recently been said by Henry Ward Beecher that perhaps the government of the City of New York did more harm to its people than all the churches together did good.
“Beelzebub” had been floundering in the sea of improbity, holding by a slender life-line to the respectable world that had cast him overboard.