51吃瓜 of the Day
disjecta membra
plural noun
scattered members; disjointed portions or parts.
More about disjecta membra
Disjecta membra 鈥渄isjointed portions or parts鈥� is a term from Latin that is altered from the phrase 诲颈蝉箩别肠迟墨 membra 辫辞脓迟补别 鈥渓imbs of a dismembered poet,鈥� which appears in the writings of Horace (known to his Roman contemporaries as Quintus Horatius Flaccus). The reason for the spelling change is simple grammar: in the original Latin, the possessive adjective 诲颈蝉箩别肠迟墨 鈥渄ismembered鈥� matches the possessive noun 辫辞脓迟补别 鈥渙f a poet.鈥� The endings are different because 辫辞脓迟补别 is irregular; though it looks feminine with its -ae ending, it is in fact a masculine noun. With 辫辞脓迟补别 removed from the phrase, 诲颈蝉箩别肠迟墨 changes to match the neuter subject noun membra, becoming disjecta. Even in modern Spanish, the feminine-looking noun poeta 鈥減oet鈥� is still masculine, and typical masculine -o adjectives modify it. Disjecta membra was first recorded in English in the early 18th century.
how is disjecta membra used?
One gets the notion that these boys are starting again from the beginning, with the separate tone and the separate sonority. Notes are strewn about like disjecta membra; there is an end to continuity in the old sense and an end of thematic relationships. In this music one waits to hear what will happen next without the slightest idea what will happen, or why what happened did happen once it has happened.
As she led the way westward past a long line of areas which, through the distortion of their paintless rails, revealed with increasing candour the disjecta membra of bygone dinners, Lily felt that Rosedale was taking contemptuous note of the neighbourhood; and before the doorstep at which she finally paused he looked up with an air of incredulous disgust.
disjecta membra
paludal
adjective
of or relating to marshes.
More about paludal
Paludal 鈥渙f or relating to marshes鈥� is based on Latin 辫补濒奴蝉 (stem 辫补濒奴诲-) 鈥渟wamp, marsh,鈥� plus the adjectival suffix -al. 笔补濒奴蝉 has one of several possible origins, inspiring significant debate among linguists. One common hypothesis is that 辫补濒奴蝉 originally meant 鈥渟ubmerged, filled (with water)鈥� and derives from an Indo-European root meaning 鈥渢o fill; many,鈥� which would make it related to Latin 辫濒脓苍耻蝉 鈥渇ull鈥� (as in plenty) and 辫濒脓谤别 鈥渢o fill鈥� (as in complete) as well as cognate to English fill because of Grimm鈥檚 law; learn more from the recent 51吃瓜s of the Day pruinose and cordiform. Alternatively, 辫补濒奴蝉 could be connected to terms related to movement of water, from Latin pluere 鈥渢o rain鈥� (compare French pleuvoir and Spanish llover) and Latin 辫濒艒谤腻谤别 鈥渢o weep鈥� (compare French pleurer and Spanish llorar) to English fleet, float, flood, flotsam, and flow. Paludal was first recorded in English in the 1810s.
how is paludal used?
A church, an ancient heap of flints, rises up, cavernous, through mist and marshes. The 鈥淐athedral of the Marshes,鈥� they call it. This is Blythburgh on England鈥檚 windswept Suffolk coast. The landscape here is oppressive, bleak. And what man once made is quickly being lost to nature: sea erodes land …. Victorian antiquaries restored the place to something of its former glory. But today, few come to worship in Blythburgh鈥檚 paludal 鈥渃补迟丑别诲谤补濒.鈥�
The land we were standing on was a project technically known as BA-39 …. BA-39 had proved, not that further proof was really necessary, what enough pipes and pumps and diesel fuel can accomplish. Nearly a million cubic yards of sediment had made the five-mile journey, resulting in the creation鈥攐r, to be more accurate, the re-creation鈥攐f a hundred and eighty-six paludal acres. Here were all the benefits of flooding without the messy side effects…
paludal
euxinia
noun
anoxia, or depletion of oxygen, in a body of water, along with a high level of hydrogen sulfide, a condition toxic to aquatic organisms.
More about euxinia
Euxinia 鈥渁noxia in a body of water鈥� is the namesake of the Latin term Pontus Eux墨nus 鈥渢he Black Sea,鈥� where euxinia is often found in the deeper water. The Latin name is adapted from Ancient Greek Pontos Eu虫别卯苍辞蝉, literally 鈥渉ospitable sea,鈥� but the story does not end there. It appears that the 别耻虫别卯苍辞蝉 portion, meaning 鈥渉ospitable鈥� and composed of eu- 鈥済ood鈥� and 虫别卯苍辞蝉 鈥渇oreign鈥� (a variant of 虫茅苍辞蝉; compare English xeno-), was originally a euphemism for Pontos A虫别卯苍辞蝉 鈥渋nhospitable sea.鈥� Alternatively, the meaning of the a虫别卯苍辞蝉 element could be folk etymology, that is, incorrectly derived from an unrelated term; the name for the Black Sea in Avestan, an ancient Indo-European language of the Iranian plateau, contained the element 补虫拧补脓苍补- 鈥渂lue, dark,鈥� and speakers of Ancient Greek could have misinterpreted this word as their own a虫别卯苍辞蝉. Euxinia was first recorded in English in the early 1950s.
how is euxinia used?
The result is that euxinia may be more widespread in the present-day oceans than previously thought 鈥�. The midwater oceanic oxygen minimum layers become especially important where they intersect the continental slope. The combination of suboxic overlying water and sulfide-producing sediments could result, in itself, in the development of extensive areas of oceanic euxinia. This does not seem to be happening at present, although it may have occurred in the past and, if the current global warming trends continue, may occur in the near future.
鈥淎fter oxygen in the ocean was used up to decompose organic material, microbes started to 鈥榖reathe鈥� sulfate and produced hydrogen sulfide, a gas that smells like rotten eggs and is poisonous to animals,鈥� said UC Riverside Earth system modeler Dominik H眉lse. As ocean photosynthesizers鈥攖he microbes and plants that form the base of the food chain鈥攔otted, other microbes quickly consumed the oxygen and left little of it for larger organisms. In the absence of oxygen, microbes consumed sulfate then expelled toxic, reeking hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, creating an even more extreme condition called euxinia.
euxinia