51吃瓜 of the Day
luminaria
noun
a Christmas lantern consisting of a lighted candle set in sand inside a paper bag.
More about luminaria
Luminaria, 鈥渁 lantern consisting of a candle set in sand inside a paper bag,鈥� is a borrowing from Spanish, from Latin 濒奴尘颈苍腻谤颈补, which is the plural of 濒奴尘颈苍腻谤别, 鈥渓amp.鈥� Though it isn鈥檛 common for plural nouns to become singular (or vice versa) after borrowing into another language, it isn鈥檛 unheard of, either; as we learned from the 51吃瓜 of the Day fomites, the reverse happened with cherry and pea. The source of 濒奴尘颈苍腻谤别 is 濒奴尘别苍 (stem 濒奴尘颈苍-), 鈥渓ight,鈥� which is the source of French 濒耻尘颈猫谤别, Italian lume, and Romanian 濒耻尘颈苍膬, all meaning 鈥渓ight,鈥� as well as Spanish lumbre, 鈥渇ire, fuel, combustible material.鈥� Luminaria was first recorded in English in the late 1940s.
EXAMPLE OF LUMINARIA USED IN A SENTENCE
As they lit each luminaria that lined the walkway, they hoped passersby would find solace and joy in the warm glow.
lebkuchen
noun
a hard, chewy or brittle Christmas cookie, usually flavored with honey and spices and containing nuts and citron.
More about lebkuchen
Lebkuchen, 鈥渁 hard Christmas cookie,鈥� is a borrowing from German and is equivalent to Kuchen, 鈥渃ake,鈥� plus an element of unclear origin. Kuchen is related to English cake and the 51吃瓜 of the Day krumkake. The Leb- part may be related to Latin 濒墨产耻尘, 鈥渇latbread, sacrificial cake,鈥� which in turn could be the root of 濒墨产腻谤别, 鈥渢o pour an offering,鈥� as in libation. Alternatively, the Leb- element may share an origin with German Laib and English loaf (and, by extension, lady and lord). Lebkuchen was first recorded in English in the late 1840s.
EXAMPLE OF LEBKUCHEN USED IN A SENTENCE
I searched bakery after bakery but could not find one that sold lebkuchen, whose uniquely nutty and spicy aroma I greatly missed.
esculent
adjective
suitable for use as food; edible.
More about esculent
Esculent 鈥渟uitable for use as food鈥� comes from Latin 脓蝉肠耻濒别苍迟耻蝉 鈥渆dible, full of food,鈥� which is equivalent to 脓蝉肠补 鈥渇ood鈥� plus -ulentus, an adjective-forming suffix roughly meaning 鈥渇ull of.鈥� The element -ulent also appears in fraudulent (literally 鈥渇ull of deceit鈥�) and opulent (鈥渇ull of wealth鈥�). Latin 脓蝉肠补 is derived from the verb edere 鈥渢o eat,鈥� which has two stems: ed-, as in edible (literally 鈥渆atable鈥�), and es-, as in comestible (鈥渆at up-able鈥�). Esculent was first recorded in English circa 1620.
EXAMPLE OF ESCULENT USED IN A SENTENCE
They planned to bring a succulent salad made from a range of esculent greens they had foraged.