51吃瓜 of the Day
approximate
verb (used with object)
to estimate.
More about approximate
Approximate 鈥渢o estimate鈥� is based on Late Latin 补辫辫谤辞虫颈尘腻迟耻蝉 鈥渄rawn near to, approached,鈥� which is based on the verb 辫谤辞虫颈尘腻谤别 鈥渢o near, approach,鈥� combined with the prefix ad- 鈥渢o, toward.鈥� 笔谤辞虫颈尘腻谤别 ultimately comes from the Latin adjective proximus 鈥渘ext,鈥� which is the superlative of prope 鈥渘别补谤.鈥� Prope is the source of the verb 辫谤辞辫颈腻谤别 鈥渢o draw near,鈥� which combined with ad- and passed through a couple of sound changes in French, such as -pi- to -ch- because of a phenomenon called palatalization, eventually becoming English approach. Approximate was first recorded in English in the early 15th century.
how is approximate used?
How can we possibly weigh [dinosaurs], and how can we be sure our assumptions aren鈥檛 wildly off the mark? Our research, published in Biological Reviews, offers a way to check. We found that two rival ways to estimate dinosaurs鈥� body size鈥搇ong thought to be fundamentally at odds鈥揳ctually offer consistent and complementary ways to approximate the weight of these prehistoric titans.
Researchers have long known that the Babylonians, who lived in what is now Iraq, had considerable mathematical skill: They successfully approximated the square root of 2 and understood the Pythagorean theorem nearly 4,000 years ago鈥攎ore than a millennium before Pythagoras was born.
keiretsu
noun
a loose coalition of business groups.
More about keiretsu
Keiretsu 鈥渁 loose coalition of business groups鈥� is a compound of Japanese kei 鈥渟eries鈥� and retsu 鈥渓ine, row.鈥� As with many words in Japanese, both kei and retsu are originally borrowings from Middle Chinese, which exerted substantial influence on other languages in East Asia, from Japanese and Korean in the north to Vietnamese in the south. Kei is cognate with Mandarin 虫矛, while retsu is cognate with Mandarin 濒颈猫鈥攖hough the common origin is clearer if we compare kei and retsu with Cantonese hai and lit. Because Mandarin gradually lost the majority of final consonants present in Middle Chinese, 濒颈猫 ends with a vowel, while Japanese retsu and Cantonese lit preserve the final 鈥渢uh鈥� sound that existed in Middle Chinese. Keiretsu was first recorded in English in the late 1970s.
how is keiretsu used?
At dinner parties in Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs brag about having them. At conferences, investors discuss building them. What’s grabbing all the attention? Keiretsu …. The word originated in post-war Japan to describe the powerful groups of intertwined companies that developed as the country rebuilt its economy. The keiretsu replaced the zaibatsu, a system of large, family-held holding companies.
The country’s industrial groups, or keiretsu, are chummy clubs, and banks were willing to quietly bail out a troubled firm with “no questions asked” loans. It was not until the late 1990s that the Japanese government stepped in and began forcing banks to come clean about bad loans.
laureate
adjective
deserving or having special recognition for achievement, as for poetry.
More about laureate
Laureate 鈥渉aving special recognition for achievement鈥� is adapted from Latin 濒补耻谤别腻迟耻蝉 鈥渃rowned with laurel,鈥� ultimately from laurus 鈥渂ay tree, laurel.鈥� Though laurus is of uncertain origin and may come instead from a long-lost language of the Mediterranean, a popular theory is that laurus is related somehow to Ancient Greek 诲谩辫丑苍脓. This theory is partially based on the occasional change of Old Latin d into Classical Latin l, as with lacrima 鈥渢ear鈥� from earlier dacrima and lingua 鈥渢ongue鈥� from earlier dingua. Laureate was first recorded in English in the late 14th century.
how is laureate used?
As an assistant editor on the desk, I wrote to the nation鈥檚 many state poets laureate鈥攏early every state has one鈥攁nd asked them to provide us with some words of gratitude in a relentlessly difficult year …. The nation鈥檚 poets laureate have a real sense of mission. They aim to encourage an appreciation for poetry, to challenge us, to generate some buzz for the art form.