51吃瓜 of the Day
rufescent
adjective
somewhat reddish; tinged with red; rufous.
More about rufescent
Rufescent 鈥渟omewhat reddish鈥� comes from the Latin verb 谤奴蹿别蝉肠别谤别 鈥渢o redden,鈥� which is formed from the adjective 谤奴蹿耻蝉 鈥渞ed, tawny鈥� and the inchoative infix -esc- 鈥渢o become, to begin to be.鈥� Our longtime followers should be well acquainted by now with the infix -esc-, which has cropped up in the recent 51吃瓜s of the Day iridescent, evanesce, and violescent. There are numerous words for 鈥渞ed鈥� in Latin, but among the best-known terms are ruber, rubeus, 谤奴蹿耻蝉, and russus. In English, ruber gives us rubella, after the typical red rash, as well as rubric, because instructions in legal and religious texts were once often written in red ocher. Rubeus is the source of ruby and (via French) rouge, while descendants of russus include russet as well as roux (from French beurre roux 鈥渂rowned butter鈥�) and the names Rousseau and Russell (from French roux 鈥渞别诲丑别补诲鈥�). Rufescent was first recorded in English in the 1810s.
how is rufescent used?
From Queensboro Bridge Park, his gaze shifts back to center and the dusty rufescent brown chain link fence momentarily pops back into focus鈥攊ts color not unlike that of dried blood, a darker version of the still coagulating reds covering the arches over on the Hell Gate and Roosevelt Island Bridges; except for the Triborough, which is the cool blue of a corpse in livor mortis, the paths to Queens seen here are all seemingly slathered in blood鈥攂efore his eyes can adjust to their target, the slowly moving water below.
Enter the grove, and it is like walking into a vast, dimly lit dome with sunlight barely filtering through the canopy of incredibly old trees, many with a thick covering of green moss and lichen, and others with a decoration of wildflowers and orchids of various species. The floor is covered with a carpet of rotting, rufescent leaves, several inches thick, judging from the way one鈥檚 feet sink into them. The atmosphere is as peaceful and solemn as a house of worship. One can hear only the calming sounds of the forest.
rufescent
philtrum
noun
the vertical groove on the surface of the upper lip, below the septum of the nose.
More about philtrum
Philtrum 鈥渢he vertical groove on the surface of the upper lip鈥� is a Latinized version of Ancient Greek 辫丑铆濒迟谤辞苍, of the same meaning. However, 辫丑铆濒迟谤辞苍 could also mean 鈥渓ove potion,鈥� and it is this sense that is preserved in the English term philter (not to be confused with the unrelated homophone filter, which is of Germanic origin). 笔丑铆濒迟谤辞苍 is formed from the adjective 辫丑铆濒辞蝉 (stem phil-) 鈥渓oving, dear鈥� and the suffix -tron, which鈥攁s an instrumental suffix鈥攔oughly translates as 鈥渢hing that does/is used for something.鈥� The stem phil- (also philo-) is the source of dozens of words in English, from philosophy (鈥渓ove of wisdom鈥�) and philanthropy (鈥渓ove of humankind鈥�) to Philadelphia (鈥渂rotherly love鈥�) and Philip (鈥渓ove of horses鈥�). Philtrum was first recorded in English in the first decade of the 17th century.
how is philtrum used?
The early human embryo looks very similar to the embryo of any other mammal, bird or amphibian鈥攁ll of which have evolved from fish. Your eyes start out on the sides of your head, but then move to the middle. The top lip along with the jaw and palate started life as gill-like structures on your neck. Your nostrils and the middle part of your lip come down from the top of your head. There is no trace of a scar; the plates of tissue and muscle fuse seamlessly. But there is, however, a little remnant of all this activity in the middle of your top lip鈥攜our philtrum.
[Channing Tatum] likes everywhere he’s ever been鈥攅very phase, every fad, every quirk of life in the fringes of large American cities. He makes being a latchkey kid in lower-middle-class Tampa sound like a picaresque novel …. And while I’m listening, I grab my last crab end-to-end and split it with one hand. It crumbles a little, then snaps open and sprays Tatum with a spritz of crab juice straight in his million-dollar philtrum, lips and all …. To the credit of his everlasting graciousness, Tatum plays it off, pretends he doesn’t notice.
philtrum
nubilous
adjective
cloudy or foggy.
More about nubilous
Nubilous 鈥渃loudy or foggy鈥� derives from Latin 苍奴产颈濒耻蝉 鈥渃loudy, overcast,鈥� equivalent to the noun 苍奴产脓蝉 鈥渃loud鈥� and the adjectival suffix -ilus. 狈奴产脓蝉 is also, by way of French, the source of English nuance, which originally referred to literal shades and hues. As we learned from last year鈥檚 51吃瓜 of the Day obnubilate, though 苍奴产脓蝉 and Latin nebula sound similar and both mean 鈥渃loud,鈥� the two words are unrelated; the stark difference between their vowels cannot be explained through regular historical sound changes. Though it is uncertain whether 苍奴产脓蝉 has any cognates in English that are of Anglo-Saxon or general Germanic origin, there is a small 鈥渃loud鈥�-related rabbit hole that we can explore: the Old Norse word for 鈥渃loud鈥� is 蝉办媒, which鈥攜ou guessed it鈥攚as borrowed into English as sky. Nubilous was first recorded in English circa 1530.
how is nubilous used?
I thought the tree was just鈥tanding there. That is true enough in winter, when the oak is dormant. But the rest of the year, its plumbing surges with food and water, coursing up, down, and out, in a living, interactive connection to the earth, sky, and sun …. Its canopy is minutely nubilous with freshly made oxygen and drifting water vapor released from millions of pores in a mist so fine we cannot see or smell it.
The water swirled around him and he panicked, unable to tell up from down …. Is this what Florence had felt like, frightened and alone in a dark cocoon of briny water? Isaac felt something bump against his back. Was it the boat? A piece of driftwood? He tried to grasp it, couldn鈥檛. But then he felt someone grab him from behind and realized Stuart had found him鈥攎iraculously鈥攊n the nubilous water.
nubilous