51吃瓜 of the Day
descry
verb (used with object)
to see (something unclear or distant) by looking carefully; discern; espy.
More about descry
Descry 鈥渢o see by looking carefully鈥� may look and sound like describe, but the two are not related. While describe comes from Latin 蝉肠谤墨产别谤别 鈥渢o write,鈥� descry and the related verb decry both come from Old French crier 鈥渢o cry,鈥� the source of English cry. From here, there are at least four hypotheses regarding the origin of crier. The traditional story is that crier ultimately comes from the Latin verb 辩耻颈谤墨迟腻谤别 鈥渢o cry out in protest,鈥� a verb said to be related to the noun 蚕耻颈谤墨迟脓蝉 鈥渃itizens of Rome,鈥� though this connection may be folk etymology and therefore based on mere coincidence. Some sources allege that 辩耻颈谤墨迟腻谤别 is instead a frequentative form of the verb 辩耻别谤墨 鈥渢o complain鈥� (the source of quarrel and querulous), while others connect 辩耻颈谤墨迟腻谤别 to 辩耻颈谤谤墨迟腻谤别 鈥渢o grunt (as a boar).鈥� However, Latin may not be involved at all; crier could derive instead from a Frankish source cognate to Dutch krijten 鈥渢o cry鈥� and German kreischen 鈥渢o shriek.鈥� Descry was first recorded in English in the late 13th century.
how is descry used?
On September 18 and 19, starting before sunrise and finishing after sunset, Wilkes took 4,882 photographs of the art installation In America: Remember, an exhibit that aims to convey the enormity of the country鈥檚 pandemic losses …. To do so, Wilkes spent two days suspended 45 feet above the ground in a lift鈥攈igh enough for a bird鈥檚 eye view but low enough to descry people鈥檚 gestures and body language. He positioned the lift purposely: He wanted the National Museum of African American History and Culture 鈥� to be a focal point because 鈥渟o many people of color were dramatically impacted by this virus.鈥�
Having thus prepared all things as well as I was able, I set sail on the twenty-fourth day of September, 1701, at six in the morning; and, when I had gone about four leagues to the northward, the wind being at southeast, at six in the evening I descried a small island about half a league to the northwest[.] I advanced forward, and cast anchor on the lee side of the island, which seemed to be uninhabited.
descry
andiron
noun
one of a pair of metal stands, usually of iron or brass, for holding logs in a fireplace.
More about andiron
Andiron 鈥渙ne of a pair of metal stands for holding logs in a fireplace鈥� may be a common noun, but its history is anything but typical. Andiron derives by way of Anglo-French from Old French andier, with a change in spelling and pronunciation because of an association with the unrelated English noun iron. Prior to Old French, the history of andiron is unclear; the most frequently appearing hypothesis is a derivation from Gaulish anderos 鈥測oung animal,鈥� after the use of decorative animal heads on andirons, but this connection remains unproven. If the link is valid, andiron is a distant cognate with the words for 鈥渂ull鈥� and 鈥渉eifer鈥� in several modern Celtic languages, such as Breton and Welsh. Andiron was first recorded in English in the late 13th century.
how is andiron used?
But the things that 鈥� Tom liked the most, were two great brazen Andirons that stood in the fireplace. To Tom these Andirons, though up to the night when our story begins he had never seen them move, seemed almost to live. They had big, round, good-natured faces, that shone like so much gold. Their necks were slight and graceful, but as they developed downward toward their handsome feet the Andirons grew more portly, until finally they came to look very much like a pair of amiable sea serpents without much length. Tom鈥檚 uncle said they looked like cats, with sunflowers for heads, swan necks for bodies, and very little of the cat about them save the claws.
andiron
avouch
verb (used with object)
to make frank acknowledgment or affirmation of; declare or assert with positiveness.
More about avouch
Avouch 鈥渢o make frank acknowledgment of鈥� is derived by way of Middle French avouchier from Latin 补诲惫辞肠腻谤别 鈥渢o call to one鈥檚 aid.鈥� 础诲惫辞肠腻谤别 is also the source of advocate (as well as French avocat and Spanish abogado, both meaning 鈥渓awyer鈥�) and comes from Latin 惫艒虫 鈥渧oice.鈥� Two doublets of avouch are the similar-sounding avow 鈥渢o declare frankly and openly鈥� and vouch 鈥渢o support as being true,鈥� both of which are also derived from 补诲惫辞肠腻谤别, but even more surprising is that vow 鈥渢o pledge or resolve solemnly to do鈥� is not related to this family of verbs. Instead, vow comes from Latin 惫辞惫脓谤别 (stem 惫艒迟-) 鈥渢o vow,鈥� which is also the source of vote. Avouch was first recorded in English in the late 14th century.
how is avouch used?
Sophronia, after eying the one and the other somewhat despitefully, fell a-weeping bitterly, complaining of Gisippus his deceit; then, rather than make any words of this in his house, she repaired to that of her father and there acquainted him and her mother with the cheat that had been put upon her and them by Gisippus, avouching herself to be the wife of Titus and not of Gisippus, as they believed.
With Arjun Radhakrishnan as Kalam a casting can’t be more accurate than this. And I avouch that as he brilliantly holds his own against a slightly more seasoned star cast.
avouch