51吃瓜 of the Day
arcane
adjective
known or understood by very few; mysterious; secret.
More about arcane
Arcane 鈥渒nown by very few鈥� comes by way of Middle French from Latin 补谤肠腻苍耻蝉 鈥渟ecret, concealed,鈥� from the verb 补谤肠脓谤别 鈥渢o shut up, keep.鈥� 础谤肠脓谤别 (stems arc- and erc-) is also the source of coerce and exercise, and it derives from arca 鈥渃hest, box,鈥� which is the source of ark. Despite the resemblance, arca is not related to arcus 鈥渂ow, curve,鈥� the latter of which is the ancestor of arc, arcade, arch, and archer. Thanks to Grimm鈥檚 law, Latin c tends to correspond to Old English h, and Latin arcus is therefore a distant relative of arrow (from Old English earh). Arcane was first recorded in English in the 1540s.
how is arcane used?
Dubbed the worst problem no one has heard of, an obscure land rights law is winning attention as lawmakers overhaul arcane U.S. inheritance rules that are exploited by predators. At the root of the problem is so-called heirs鈥� property鈥揳 type of enforced communal ownership鈥搘hich can arise when land or a home is passed on without a clear will.
Federal officials contend that wolves are resilient enough to bounce back even if their numbers drop sharply due to intensive hunting 鈥�. Friday鈥檚 hearing focused on a much more arcane, legal issue: Were wolves properly classified under the endangered act prior to losing their protected status last year? A U.S. Justice Department attorney said they were not, because of changes to the act by Congress in 1978.
zophorus
noun
an architectural band on an outside wall decorated with sculptural representations of people or animals.
More about zophorus
Zophorus 鈥渁n architectural band decorated with animals,鈥� also often spelled zoophorus, comes by way of Latin from Ancient Greek 锄艒颈辞辫丑贸谤辞蝉 鈥渂earing animals,鈥� a compound of 锄么颈辞苍 鈥渁nimal鈥� and -phoros 鈥渂earing.鈥� For more on 锄么颈辞苍, compare the recent 51吃瓜 of the Day zooid. The element -phoros is the present participle of the verb 辫丑茅谤别颈苍 鈥渢o bear,鈥� which is also the source of dysphoria, pheromone, the names Berenice and Christopher, and鈥攆ar more distantly鈥攖he recent 51吃瓜 of the Day auriferous. Zophorus was first recorded in English circa 1560.
how is zophorus used?
[T]he external face of the zophorus, being coated with a very fine cement, had assimilated in colour with the marble of the building, so as to be deceptive, except upon minute inspection.
The architrave in both the Ionic and the Corinthian orders consists of plain slabs, but the frieze … is in nearly every case enriched with a series of beautiful figure subjects, and is therefore known as the Zoophorus or figure-bearer.
arioso
adjective
in the manner of an air or melody.
More about arioso
Arioso 鈥渋n the manner of a melody鈥� is a loanword from Italian, in which it means 鈥渟onglike鈥� and is a compound of aria 鈥渁ir, song鈥� and –oso, an adjective-forming suffix meaning 鈥�-like.鈥� Aria comes via Latin 腻脓谤 from Ancient Greek 腻岣梤 鈥渢he lower atmosphere,鈥� which is in contrast to 补颈迟丑岣梤 鈥渢he upper air,鈥� the source of ether and ethereal (compare the recent 51吃瓜 of the Day empyrean). Though unconfirmed, 腻岣梤 may come from the same root as midair- or wind-related words such as aorta (from 补辞谤迟岣� 鈥渟omething carried鈥�), artery (from 补谤迟脓谤颈补 鈥渨颈苍诲辫颈辫别鈥�), aura (from 补煤谤腻 鈥渂reath鈥�), and meteor (from 补别铆谤别颈苍 鈥渢o raise, lift鈥�). Arioso was first recorded in English circa 1740.
how is arioso used?
Think of Rodolfo鈥檚 Act I aria in La Boh猫me, 鈥淐he gelida manina,鈥� in which he tells Mim矛, who had knocked on his garret door just moments before, all about his life. The aria is like a monologue in which melodic phrases segue into stretches of arioso writing that straddle aria and recitative.