51吃瓜 of the Day
dithyrambic
adjective
of, relating to, or of the nature of an impassioned oration.
More about dithyrambic
Dithyrambic, 鈥渙f or relating to an impassioned oration,鈥� describes a dithyramb, which refers to a wild Greek choral song or, more broadly, to an enthusiastic speech. Dithyramb comes from Ancient Greek 诲墨迟丑媒谤补尘产辞蝉, which belongs to a small family of words related to song or rhythm, including 铆补尘产辞蝉, 鈥�iamb.鈥� Alas, these words are likely of mysterious pre-Greek origin, coming from a lost language spoken in the eastern Mediterranean. For more examples of pre-Greek words, check out the 51吃瓜s of the Day obelize and pharyngeal. Dithyrambic was first recorded in English at the turn of the 17th century.
EXAMPLE OF DITHYRAMBIC USED IN A SENTENCE
The teacher was known for dithyrambic declarations, praising all her students for their exceptional performance.
More about welkin
The roots of welkin, 鈥渢he sky,鈥� run rather deep in English history. Welkin鈥檚 earliest recorded form is Old English wolcen, 鈥渃loud, sky,鈥� the plural of which is wolcnu. Wolcen belongs to a class of nouns in Old English that added a final -u when they became plural. Other such words include 忙肠别谤苍, 鈥�acorn鈥�; 肠苍脓辞飞, 鈥�knee鈥�; and scip, 鈥�ship,鈥� all of which simply add -s today in the plural. Outside the British Isles, welkin appears to have relatives in other West Germanic languages, such as Dutch wolk and German Wolke, both 鈥渃loud,鈥� but no clear connections beyond that branch. Welkin was first recorded in English before 900 CE.
EXAMPLE OF WELKIN USED IN A SENTENCE
As they drove through the night, the North Star arose in the darkened welkin, guiding them home.
More about asinine
Asinine, 鈥渇oolish, unintelligent, or silly,鈥� comes from Latin 补蝉颈苍墨苍耻蝉, which is based on asinus, 鈥渄onkey.鈥� The specific origin of asinus remains unknown and unrecorded, but there is ample evidence that it derives from a lost pre-Roman language based on its resemblance to other Eurasian words for 鈥渄onkey鈥� or, specifically, 鈥渇emale donkey,鈥� such as Ancient Greek 贸苍辞蝉, Arabic示补迟腻苍, and even Luwian tarkasna-. This could all point to an origin for asinus in what is now Iraq, perhaps Sumerian 补苍拧别 or 补苍拧耻, 鈥渄onkey.鈥� Asinine was first recorded in English at the turn of the 17th century.
EXAMPLE OF ASININE USED IN A SENTENCE
The guest speaker’s bizarre misuse of several complex words made him sound asinine.