51吃瓜 of the Day
distelfink
noun
a stylized bird motif traditional in Pennsylvania German art.
More about distelfink
Distelfink 鈥渁 stylized bird motif traditional in Pennsylvania German art鈥� is an adaptation of the Pennsylvania Dutch word dischdelfink 鈥済oldfinch,鈥� a compound of dischdel 鈥渢histle鈥� and fink 鈥渇inch.鈥� Although it contains the word Dutch, Pennsylvania Dutch is in fact a dialect of German, which is why it is also known as Pennsylvania German. A common misconception is that Dutch appears in this dialect鈥檚 name as an anglicized form of the German word Deutsch 鈥淕erman,鈥� but in fact, the use of Dutch here reflects an archaic definition in English: 鈥渃ontinental Germanic.鈥� Distelfink was first recorded in English in the 1930s.
how is distelfink used?
Inside the house a few hornets bumped along the walls and went wobbling across the room. The house was clean and tidy, with a few well-used pieces of furniture, the best of which was a schrank, or wardrobe, made of figured walnut. On one wall hung a framed piece of fraktur art. This fraktur had no brightly colored distelfink, the thistle finch that foretold happiness and good fortune鈥攁 common motif, and the one that decorated a painting in the parlor of the house where Gideon had grown up.
distelfink
haphephobia
noun
an extreme fear or dislike of touching or being touched.
More about haphephobia
Haphephobia 鈥渁n extreme fear or dislike of touching or being touched鈥� is a compound of the Ancient Greek noun 丑补辫丑岣� 鈥渁 touch鈥� and the combining form -phobia 鈥渇ear,鈥� from Ancient Greek 辫丑贸产辞蝉. 贬补辫丑岣� is a derivative of the verb 丑谩辫迟别颈苍 鈥渢o grasp, sense,鈥� which is also the source of the adjective haptic 鈥渙f or relating to touch.鈥� Ancient Greek has two letters similar to English P: pi, which represents the 鈥減鈥� sound in spin, and phi, which represents the aspirated 鈥減鈥� sound in pin. Because pi and phi are pronounced similarly, many Greek verbs containing a 鈥減鈥� sound regularly alternate between pi and phi across tenses and forms, which is how the verb 丑谩辫迟别颈苍, spelled with a pi, leads to the noun form 丑补辫丑岣�, spelled with a phi. Haphephobia was first recorded in English in the early 1890s.
how is haphephobia used?
Pilati, a powerful captain of industry who happens to have haphephobia and dreads being touched, has thrown his support behind Claudia鈥檚 campaign to become the town鈥檚 first woman mayor. Perhaps Roberto鈥檚 time might be better spent tweaking both his surveillance equipment and his home life, and not playing junior crime solver.
haphephobia
perilune
noun
the point in a lunar orbit that is nearest to the moon.
More about perilune
Perilune 鈥渢he point in a lunar orbit that is nearest to the moon鈥� is a compound of the combining form peri- 鈥渁bout, around, near鈥� and the element -lune 鈥渕辞辞苍.鈥� Peri-, from Ancient Greek 辫别谤铆 鈥渁bout, around,鈥� is a common fixture in words related to closeness, such as perimeter and periphery, and in perilune, it is combined with -lune on the pattern of perigee 鈥渢he point in an orbit that is nearest to the earth鈥� (using Ancient Greek 驳补卯补 or 驳锚 鈥渆arth鈥�). Unlike perigee, perilune features a Latin-origin element, -lune (from Latin 濒奴苍补) to mean 鈥渕oon鈥�; if this element were derived instead from Ancient Greek 蝉别濒岣梟脓 鈥渕oon鈥� to better match perigee, we would be saying something like 鈥�periselene鈥� instead! Perilune was first recorded in English in the late 1950s.
how is perilune used?
After being tracked for several days the spacecraft would be further slowed so that its perilune, or closest approach, would be reduced to about 28 miles above the lunar surface, which would be the primary altitude for photography. Originally the plan was to make the initial orbit circular at about 575 miles above the lunar surface; the slowing maneuver would put the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit with a perilune of 28 miles and an apolune, or maximum altitude, of 575 miles.
Since arriving at the Moon on 4 April, Beresheet has slowly lowered its orbit with a series of engine burns. On Tuesday, it circularized its orbit to an altitude of just 200 kilometers, and following a burn Wednesday, Beresheet dropped the perilune, or low point of its orbit, to just 15 kilometers over its eventual landing site in Mare Serenitatis.
perilune