51吃瓜 of the Day
stentorian
adjective
very loud or powerful in sound.
More about stentorian
Stentorian, 鈥渆xtremely loud; having a powerful voice,鈥� comes from Greek 厂迟茅苍迟艒谤 (inflectional stem 厂迟茅苍迟辞谤-), the name of a Greek (more properly Achaean) warrior who fought at Troy. Stentor is mentioned in the Iliad only once, in book 5, where Hera 鈥渢ook the likeness of great-hearted Stentor of the brazen voice, whose voice is as the voice of fifty other men鈥� to scold the Achaeans. According to a scholium (an ancient comment or annotation on a Greek or Latin text) on this line in the Iliad, Stentor, like several other Greek heroes who came to similar bad ends, challenged the god Hermes to a shouting contest and was killed for his impudence. 厂迟茅苍迟艒谤 is a Greek derivative of the Proto-Indo-European root (s)ten-, (s)ton– 鈥渢o groan鈥� (thus the literal meaning of 厂迟茅苍迟艒谤 is 鈥済roaner, moaner鈥� from the verb 蝉迟茅苍别颈苍 鈥渢o moan, groan, lament鈥�). The root appears in Sanskrit as 蝉迟谩苍补迟颈 鈥�(it, he) groans, thunders,鈥� Old English stenan 鈥渢o groan loudly; roar,鈥� and Russian 蝉迟辞苍谩迟鈥� 鈥渢o groan.鈥� The form without the initial s– (i.e. ten-, ton-) appears in Aeolic Greek (the dialect of the lyric poets Sappho and Alcaeus) as 迟茅苍苍别颈 鈥�(it, he) thunders,鈥� Latin 迟辞苍腻谤别 鈥渢o thunder, roar,鈥� Old English thunor (English thunder), and Old Norse 罢丑艒谤谤 鈥淭hor鈥� (the deity, literally, 鈥渢hunder鈥�). Stentorian entered English in the early 17th century.
how is stentorian used?
You may not know much about helium, except that it fills birthday balloons and blimps and can make even the most stentorian voice sound a bit like Donald Duck.
It’s been a few days since I wondered, on the basis of a fabulous pre-World War II film clip about San Francisco, why you never heard modern Americans speaking in the formal, stentorian tones so instantly recognizable from newsreels and movies of that era.
stentorian
perambulate
verb (used without object)
to walk or travel about; stroll.
More about perambulate
Perambulate, 鈥渢o walk or travel about; stroll,鈥� is in origin a Scots word that meant 鈥渢o travel through (land) and inspect it for measuring or dividing or determining ownership,鈥� a process called perambulation. Perambulate comes from Latin 辫别谤补尘产耻濒腻迟耻蝉, the past participle of 辫别谤补尘产耻濒腻谤别 鈥渢o walk through, walk about, walk around in, tour, make the rounds,鈥� a compound of the preposition and prefix per, per– 鈥渢hrough鈥� and the simple verb 补尘产耻濒腻谤别 鈥渢o walk; go about; travel; march鈥� (source of English amble). Perambulate entered English in the mid-15th century.
how is perambulate used?
Mary and I liked to perambulate along the river Arno in Florence, or through the pedestrianised Roman thoroughfares.
Mr. Cleese may sometimes perambulate strangely but he still types perfectly fine, and he has agreed to write a book about his life ….
perambulate
toplofty
adjective
condescending; haughty.
More about toplofty
Toplofty, 鈥渃ondescending; haughty,鈥� is a back formation of earlier toploftical, of similar meaning. Both adjectives are humorous colloquialisms. The underlying phrase is top loft, 鈥渢he uppermost story, topmost gallery.鈥� Toploftical appears, sort of, in everyone鈥檚 favorite bedtime reading, Finnegans Wake (1939): 鈥溾�elescalating the himals and all, hierarchitectitiptitoploftical, with a burning bush abob off its baubletop鈥︹�� Toplofty entered English in the first half of the 19th century.
how is toplofty used?
Newcomers to the Examiner who feared that the rich senator’s son might be a painful popinjay were charmed by his quaint courtesy and the absence of anything toplofty of condescending about him.
If this should fall through, dear, you must write to your Aunt Vic. You must eat humble pie. You were too toplofty with her as it was.
toplofty