51吃瓜 of the Day
amphiscians
plural noun
Archaic. inhabitants of the tropics.
More about amphiscians
Amphiscians is an altogether strange word, at least in its meaning. The English word, a plural noun, comes from Medieval Latin 础尘辫丑颈蝉肠颈墨 鈥渢hose who cast a shadow on both sides,鈥� i.e., in the tropics a person鈥檚 shadow will fall towards the north or towards the south depending on whether the sun is above or below the equator. 础尘辫丑颈蝉肠颈墨 is a straightforward borrowing of Greek 补尘辫丑铆蝉办颈辞颈 (a plural adjective used as a noun) 鈥渃asting a shadow or shadowy on both sides,鈥� formed from the preposition and prefix amph铆, amphi- 鈥渁round, about鈥� (akin to Latin ambi- with the same meaning) and the noun 蝉办颈谩 鈥渟hadow, shade, specter鈥� (from the same Proto-Indo-European root from which English has shine). (Heteroscians is, of course, the opposite of amphiscians.) Amphiscians entered English in the 17th century.
how is amphiscians used?
The amphiscians, whose noon shadows fall on both sides, are the people who live between the two tropics, in the region which the ancients call the middle zone.
Are we not similar to those amphiscians / whose shadows fall at one season to the north, / but at another to the south?
prebuttal
noun
an argument constructed in anticipation of a criticism:聽The alderman began his speech with a question-answer style prebuttal.
More about prebuttal
Prebuttal is a clever combination of the prefix pre- 鈥渂efore鈥� and (re)buttal. It is equivalent to the Latin rhetorical term 辫谤辞濒脓辫蝉颈蝉 鈥渁nticipation in the form of a brief summary鈥� or Late Latin 辫谤辞肠补迟补濒脓辫蝉颈蝉 鈥渁nticipation and rebuttal of an opponent鈥檚 arguments,鈥� a borrowing from Greek 辫谤辞濒脓辫蝉颈蝉 鈥�(in rhetoric) anticipation鈥� and 辫谤辞办补迟谩濒脓辫蝉颈蝉 鈥渁nticipation and rebuttal of an opponent鈥檚 arguments.鈥� Former Vice President Al Gore seems to be the first person to use prebuttal in 1996.
how is prebuttal used?
President Clinton’s White House and campaign team have been drawing favorable reviews for their rapid response operation and penchant for picking off issues before Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) even gets his TelePrompTer warmed up. Vice President Gore calls it “prebuttal.”
Both in the short term and for posterity, Sotomayor’s work will serve as a prebuttal to what Chief Justice John Roberts and company are poised to do.
inculpate
verb
to involve in a charge;聽incriminate.
More about inculpate
Inculpate, like inflammable, is capable of two opposite meanings depending on whether you take in- to be a negative prefix (from the same Proto-Indo-European source as English un-) or an intensive prefix. If in- is the negative prefix, then inculpate means 鈥渦nblamed, blameless,鈥� the only meaning of the Latin 颈苍肠耻濒辫腻迟耻蝉 and a meaning that inculpate had in (and only in) 17th-century English. Likewise inflammable would mean 鈥渘ot flammable,鈥� a very common mistake in modern English. The in- in inculpate and inflammable is in fact the intensive in-; Late Latin 颈苍肠耻濒辫腻谤别 means 鈥渢o blame鈥�; 颈苍蹿濒补尘尘腻谤别 means 鈥渢o set on fire.鈥� The Romans, too, were confused by the two different prefixes: 颈苍补耻诲墨谤别 (in- here the intensive prefix) means 鈥渢o catch the sound of, get wind of, hear鈥�; its past participle 颈苍补耻诲墨迟耻蝉 (in- here the negative prefix) means 鈥渦nheard, unheard of, not listened to.鈥� Inculpate in the sense 鈥渢o blame鈥� entered English in the late 18th century.
how is inculpate used?
Then someone came into your room and placed the pistol there in order to inculpate you.
Their job was simply to get as much information as possible, which, along with corroborating evidence, would either inculpate the suspect or set him free.