51吃瓜 of the Day
apastron
noun
the point at which the stars of a binary system are farthest apart.
More about apastron
Apastron, 鈥渢he point at which binary stars are farthest apart,鈥� is based on Ancient Greek 补辫贸 鈥渁way, off, apart鈥� and 谩蝉迟谤辞苍 鈥渟tar, constellation.鈥� 础辫贸, which remains apo- in English before most consonants (as in apology) but becomes ap- before vowels and h (as in aphorism). Distant relatives of 补辫贸, all featuring a telltale labial (using the lips) consonant, include English after and off, Latin ab 鈥渁way from,鈥� and Sanskrit 谩辫补 鈥渁way, off.鈥� 脕蝉迟谤辞苍 is based on 补蝉迟岣梤 鈥渟tar鈥� (compare the recent 51吃瓜s of the Day asterism and astronaut), which is a cognate and synonym of English star and Latin stella (compare the recent 51吃瓜s of the Day circumstellar and stellate). Apastron was first recorded in English in the early 1840s.
how is apastron used?
Owing to the great eccentricity of the orbits of double stars, such stars are anywhere from twice to nineteen times as near to each other at periastron as they are at “apastron,” or point of greatest departure.
plastique
noun
a ballet technique for mastering the art of slow, controlled movement and statuelike posing.
More about plastique
Plastique, 鈥渁 ballet technique for mastering slow movement,鈥� is the French cognate of plastic. Both terms come by way of Latin plasticus 鈥渕oldable鈥� from Ancient Greek 辫濒补蝉迟颈办贸蝉, formed from 辫濒补蝉迟贸蝉 鈥渇ormed, molded.鈥澛�笔濒补蝉迟贸蝉 is based on the verb 辫濒谩蝉蝉别颈苍 (stem plath-) 鈥渢o form, mold鈥� and -tos, an adjective-forming suffix, with the change from the expected 鈥�辫濒补迟丑迟贸蝉鈥� to the actual 辫濒补蝉迟贸蝉 perhaps for easier pronunciation. Other derivatives of 辫濒谩蝉蝉别颈苍 include plasma, plaster, rhinoplasty, and the recent 51吃瓜s of the Day plasticity and esemplastic. While plastic in English dates to circa 1630, plastique was first recorded in English circa 1800.
how is plastique used?
While this breadth of repertory is no longer uncommon for Kirov dancers, Ms. Vishneva is exceptional in her ability to put her supple plastique鈥攈er gloriously articulate back from which all movement appears to emanate, her elongated line in arabesque, her exquisitely fluid arms鈥攁t the service of the choreography.
In dance terms, it is cerebral stuff, the choreographer mixing the classical vocabulary of movement with a variety of others; he is impressive too in his use of stasis and plastique, questioning whether motion is essential to dancing.
gingerly
adverb
with great care or caution; warily.
More about gingerly
Despite the similar spelling and pronunciation, gingerly 鈥渨ith great care or caution鈥� has nothing to do with the spicy root ginger. Gingerly is of uncertain origin but may come from Middle French gensor 鈥渄elicate, pretty鈥� (from gent 鈥済entle鈥�) combined with English -ly, an adjective- and adverb-forming suffix. The ultimate source of gensor is either the Latin verb gignere (stem genit-) 鈥渢o beget鈥� or the Latin noun 驳脓苍蝉 (stem gent-) 鈥渞ace, people.鈥� In contrast, ginger comes via Latin from Ancient Greek 锄颈苍驳铆产别谤颈蝉, perhaps by way of Sanskrit 艣峁涐箙驳补惫别谤补尘 or Pali 蝉颈峁僩颈惫别谤补尘 from a Dravidian language; compare Malayalam and Tamil 颈帽肠颈 鈥済颈苍驳别谤.鈥� Gingerly was first recorded in English in the 1510s.
how is gingerly used?
I felt the arm gingerly through his shirt鈥攏o compound fractures. I rolled it up carefully for a better look …. I bit my lip, feeling gingerly down the swell of his biceps. He had one of the worst bruises I had ever seen.