51吃瓜 of the Day
asunder
adverb, adjective
into separate parts; in or into pieces: Lightning split the old oak tree asunder.
More about asunder
Asunder, 鈥渋nto separate parts or pieces; widely separated,鈥� comes from Middle English asonder, asondre, osonder (with still more variant spellings), from Old English on sundrum, on sundran, on sundron 鈥渟eparately, separated from one another, apart,鈥� a prepositional phrase meaning literally 鈥渋n separate (positions),鈥� from the adverb sundor, which has cognate forms in all the Germanic languages, e.g., German sonder 鈥渨ithout鈥� (preposition) and Gothic sundro (adverb) 鈥渁lone, aside, apart.鈥� Sundor and its Germanic relatives come from a Proto-Indo-European root sen-, 蝉别苍蓹- 鈥渟eparate, apart,鈥� which appears in Latin as sine (preposition) 鈥渨ithout,鈥� as in the Medieval Latin phrase (beneficium) sine c奴r膩 鈥�(benefice) without care (of parishioners),鈥� source of English sinecure. Asunder dates from the Old English period.
how is asunder used?
You don鈥檛 enter the school by being strangely keen on chess. … You need to be a mutant, and your gift must be funkily unique to you. Helplessly shooting blood-red beams of flame out of your eyes that rip through the lawn and split a tree asunder: that鈥檚 the kind of talent that gets you enrolled …
two souls, two thoughts, two un-reconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
asunder
leitmotif
noun
a unifying or dominant motif; a recurrent theme: A leitmotif in science fiction is the evolving relationship between humans and machines.
More about leitmotif
The English noun leitmotif, also spelled leitmotiv, 鈥渓eading motive, guiding motive, a recurring theme associated with a particular person, place, or event,鈥� comes from the German noun Leitmotif and is especially associated with Wagner鈥檚 Ring of the Nibelung (the Ring Cycle), but the term antedates Wagner, and Wagner himself never used it. German Leitmotif is a compound of the verb leiten 鈥渢o guide, lead鈥� (cognate with the English verb lead) and the noun Motiv, a German borrowing from French motif. Leitmotif entered English in the second half of the 19th century.
how is leitmotif used?
Two weeks before Christmas, on one of those balmy, pale-gold afternoons that pass for winter in Northern California, a handful of Silicon Valley’s most prominent executives and financiers held a secret meeting whose leitmotif was that rarest of concepts in the world of business: guilt.
So the leitmotif of the inevitability of change and loss in the 10 items of grandfatherly wisdom I wanted to share with him is now something he is experiencing palpably.
leitmotif
茅濒补苍
noun
dash; impetuous ardor: to dance with great 茅濒补苍.
More about 茅濒补苍
The still unnaturalized French noun 茅濒补苍, 鈥渄ash, impetuous ardor,鈥� originally applied to a military charge or rush. 脡lan comes from Old and Middle French eslan 鈥渁 rush,鈥� from the verb eslancer 鈥渢o throw or cast a lance or dart.鈥� Eslancer in turn comes from the Latin preposition and prefix ex, ex- 鈥渙ut, out of, from鈥� and the noun lancea 鈥渓ight spear for throwing,鈥� possibly a Gaulish or Spanish loanword in Latin. 脡濒补苍 entered English in the second half of the 19th century.
how is 茅濒补苍 used?
He then launched into the Gigue of Bach鈥檚 C-major Suite鈥攔obust, driving music that Ma brought off with his usual precision and 茅濒补苍.
With a certain 茅濒补苍, the聽San Francisco Chronicle聽has taken to publishing letters from readers who remark the diminishing pleasure or usefulness of the聽San Francisco Chronicle.
茅濒补苍