51吃瓜 of the Day
sibilate
verb
to utter or pronounce with a hissing sound.
More about sibilate
Sibilate comes from Latin 蝉墨产颈濒腻迟耻蝉, past participle of the verb 蝉墨产颈濒腻谤别 鈥渢o hiss, hiss in disapproval.鈥� From 蝉墨产颈濒补苍迟-, the present participle stem of 蝉墨产颈濒腻谤别, English has the noun and adjective sibilant, used in phonetics in reference to hissing sounds like s or z. Sibilate entered English in the 17th century.
how is sibilate used?
It may be that there is some mysterious significance in the pitch at which an idea is vocalized; but, as for this writer, we doubt if it makes any difference whether he sibilates his opinions to himself in half-suppressed demi-semiquavers, or roars them to the world through a fog-trumpet–their obliquity may safely be assumed as a constant quantity.
“I’ve been in for twenty years,” he sibilates in my ear.
More about legerdemain
There are about 50 spellings in Middle English for (modern) legerdemain. The English word most likely comes from a Middle French phrase leger de main 鈥渓ight of hand,鈥� which is unfortunately unrecorded. Middle French has two similar idioms meaning 鈥渢o be dexterous鈥�: estre ligier de sa main, literally 鈥渢o be light of his hand鈥� and avoir la main legiere, literally 鈥渢o have the light hand.鈥� In English, legerdemain first meant 鈥渟kill in conjuring, sleight of hand鈥� and acquired the sense 鈥渢rickery, artful deception鈥� in the 16th century. Legerdemain entered English in the 15th century.
how is legerdemain used?
… it was precisely that sort of legerdemain鈥攖apping a dicey loan with the magic wand of financialization鈥攚hich built the mortgage-securitization industry to begin with.
The city today stretches out along the flatlands by the Fyris River, then ripples up a glacial ridge, culminating in a massive sixteenth-century castle painted the color of a poached salmon鈥攁 bit of legerdemain by pigment that leavens the bulky fortress considerably.
polychromatic
adjective
having or exhibiting a variety of colors.
More about polychromatic
English polychromatic is a borrowing from French polychromatique, which comes from Greek 辫辞濒测肠丑谤峁搈补迟辞蝉 鈥渕any-colored, variegated鈥� and the suffix -ique, from the Greek suffix -ikos or the Latin suffix -icus. Polychromatic is used mostly, but not exclusively, in the physical sciences, e.g., hematology, physics, and formerly in chemistry. Polychromatic entered English in the 19th century.
how is polychromatic used?
… the degreening of leaves is a widely appreciated natural phenomenon, especially in autumn, when the foliage of deciduous trees turns into polychromatic beauty.
Throughout, Suzy Lee鈥檚 polychromatic illustrations astonish. Each page bursts with color.