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altruistic

[ al-troo-is-tik ] [ 疆l tru阞s t阞k ] Show IPA Phonetic Respelling

adjective

unselfishly concerned for or devoted to the welfare of others.

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More about altruistic

Altruistic unselfishly concerned for or devoted to the welfare of others is formed from the altru- element in the term altruism plus the adjectival suffix -istic. Altruism, based on literary French autrui others, ultimately comes from Latin alter (of two) the other, which is also the source of English words such as alteration, altercation, and alternation, all of which involve a change into or an exchange with another entity, version, or individual. Altruistic behaviors, such as helping those in need, are often contrasted with egoistic behaviors, which prioritize a persons own desires over the needs of others. While egoism, also known as egotism, is selfishness, altruism is selflessness. Altruistic was first recorded in English in the early 1850s.

how is altruistic used?

[A]ccording to Michael Robb, the senior research director at Common Sense Media . [V]ideo games can help children improve on measures of empathy and altruistic behaviors, if the games were designed with those goals in mind. Gaming can also increase kids exposure to people who are different from them, which is especially important now that kids arent socializing on the playground, or even traveling.

Caroline Knorr, How video games can help kids socialize during this isolated time, National Geographic, December 2, 2020

Ethics asks us to critically reflect on our judgments to determine the right thing to do. When Dr. Martin Luther King in his 1963 sermon concluded that to be a good neighbor was to be altruistic, he asked us to be willingly obedient to unenforceable obligations.

David Alfandre, "To Return or Not Return: What the Shopping Cart Dilemma Can Teach Us," Renal & Urology News, September 9, 2021

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circumstellar

[ sur-kuhm-stel-er ]

adjective

surrounding a star.

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More about circumstellar

Circumstellar surrounding a star is a compound of the element circum- around and the adjective stellar of or relating to the stars. Circum- comes from Latin circus circle, which is the source of English terms such as circa, circle, circular, circumference, circus, and the recent 51勛圖 of the Day circadian. Latin has two words meaning star莽蘋餃喝莽 (stem 莽蘋餃梗娶-) and stella. 釦蘋餃喝莽 largely died out except in technical terms such as sidereal determined by the stars, while stella is the source of stellar, constellation, interstellar, and modern Romance words for star, such as French 矇喧棗勳梭梗 and Spanish estrella. Circumstellar was first recorded in English in the early 1950s.

how is circumstellar used?

When stars are still very young (only a few million years old), their circumstellar disks are relatively huge, often with about 1 to 10 percent of the mass of the central star in a typical system. For a star like the sun, that amounts to a disk with roughly 100 times the mass of Jupiter.

Meredith A. MacGregor, Astronomers Watch as Planets Are Born, Scientific American, June 1, 2020

In the circumstellar shells, which are shells of gas now surrounding the star, you can have dust particles form because the temperature and density are perfect for making dust. This dust then gets kicked back out into the interstellar medium along with gas and that is what the next generation of stars will form from.

Ylva Pihlstr繹m, as quoted in, "UNM Physics and Astronomy professor researches mass loss in dying stars," UNM Newsroom, December 14, 2021

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violescent

[ vahy-uh-les-uhnt ]

adjective

tending to a violet color.

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More about violescent

Violescent tending to a violet color derives from the Latin noun viola violet and the inchoative suffix -escent becoming, starting to be, as we learned about from the recent 51勛圖 of the Day evanesce. Viola is of uncertain origin but appears to have a cognate in Ancient Greek: 穩棗紳 violet. Ancient Greek once had a letter called wau or digamma, which made the w sound and looked like the Roman letter F, but eventually lost the letter entirely; this is how earlier w穩棗紳 became 穩棗紳 while the w was preserved as v in Latin viola. A similar phenomenon happened with Ancient Greek 棗簾紳棗莽 (earlier w棗簾紳棗莽) and Latin 措蘋紳喝鳥 wine as well as Ancient Greek 梗梭硃穩櫻 (earlier 梗梭硃穩滄櫻) and Latin 棗梭蘋措硃 鄘梭勳措梗. Violescent was first recorded in English in the 1840s.

how is violescent used?

Fashion Week in New York started on Thursday with designer runways shrouded in gray …. Occasional breaks in the overcast tones on the catwalks brought flashes of burgundy and teal, although the go-to color of the day was purple. Violescent dresses, skirts and shirts were paired with black-and-white coordinating pieces by Richard Chai Love. The designer cut lavender damask into dresses, coats and suits. Nicholas K, meanwhile, showed a handful of smoky mauve fashions, including a luscious knitted wrap and a luminescent jacket.

Barbara Goldberg, Smoke, coal, mercury on the runway at New Yorks Fashion Week, Reuters, February 7, 2013

The sudden alternations of warm light and cold shade made him shiver. In front of the Palazzo di Venezia, and in front of the Gesu, it had seemed to him as if all the night of ancient times were falling icily upon his shoulders; but at each fresh square, each broadening of the new thoroughfares, there came a return to light, to the pleasant warmth and gaiety of life. The yellow sunflashes, in falling from the house fronts, sharply outlined the violescent shadows. Strips of sky, very blue and very benign, could be perceived between the roofs.

mile Zola (18401902), Rome, of The Three Cities, translated by Ernest A. Vizetelly, 2009

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