51吃瓜 of the Day
adventitious
adjective
associated with something by chance rather than as an integral part; extrinsic.
More about adventitious
Adventitious comes from the Medieval Latin adjective 补诲惫别苍迟墨迟颈耻蝉, from Latin 补诲惫别苍迟墨肠颈耻蝉 鈥渃oming from without, from abroad, foreign, external, made or happening by chance, casual.鈥� 础诲惫别苍迟墨肠颈耻蝉 is a derivative of the verb 补诲惫别苍墨谤别 鈥渢o come to, arrive at, reach鈥� (formed from the preposition and prefix ad, ad– 鈥渢o, toward鈥� and the simple verb 惫别苍墨谤别 鈥渢o come, be on the way, approach鈥�) and the suffix –墨肠颈耻蝉, used for forming adjectives from the past participle stems of verbs (here, advent– from adventum). The zoological or botanical sense 鈥渁ppearing in an abnormal or unusual position or place, as a root鈥� dates from the second half of the 17th century. Adventitious dates from the early 17th century.
how is adventitious used?
It is not founded on organic strength, the delicate, ennobling mark of a good endowment, of sound blood and a sound character, but is in a curious way something adventitious, accidental, perhaps even usurped or stolen.
This is exhausting, of course, but far less so than the tenor of a normal museum, which groups works by adventitious categories of period and style.
banalize
verb (used with object)
to render or make devoid of freshness or originality;听迟谤颈惫颈补濒颈锄别: Television has often been accused of banalizing even the most serious subjects.
More about banalize
Banalize 鈥渢o render or make banal, trivialize鈥� dates only from the mid-20th century. Banalize is a derivative of the adjective banal 鈥渓acking freshness or originality, trite, hackneyed.鈥� Banal comes from Old French banal, banel 鈥渃ommunal, open to the public,鈥� from ban 鈥減ublic proclamation, edict, (in ecclesiastical usage) an official notice of an intended marriage, given three times in the parish church of each of the betrothed,鈥� usually used in the plural banns or bans. In secular life, ban in feudal times meant 鈥渁 summons from a lord or sovereign to a vassal to perform military service.鈥� Any American male of a certain age who has ever received a letter personally addressed to him from The President of the United States, beginning with 鈥淕reeting:鈥� would consider a ban like that as anything but banal.
how is banalize used?
Once the human tragedy has been completed, it gets turned over to the journalists to banalize into entertainment.
… these poets suffer by living in an anti-Romantic hollow, when the lyric occasion is no longer a noble and high thing, (let alone a public thing) but has been banalized and domesticated.
wiredraw
verb (used with object)
to strain unwarrantably, as in meaning.
More about wiredraw
The verb wiredraw, which entered English at the end of the 16th century, is a back formation from the agent noun wiredrawer, which dates from the 13th century and means鈥攇et this!鈥攁 worker whose job is to draw metal into wire (by forcibly pulling metal through holes of smaller and smaller diameter). Readers with scholarly interests will be familiar with the adjective wiredrawn 鈥�(of scholarly arguments) overrefined, overly subtle, contrived鈥濃�攁n occupational hazard.
how is wiredraw used?
He wiredraws every thing, and endeavours to misrepresent every circumstance of the story.
They wiredraw their arguments to such a length, that they absolutely weaken the very impression which a previous part of their speech may have produced.