51吃瓜 of the Day
eleemosynary
adjective
of or relating to alms, charity, or charitable donations; charitable.
More about eleemosynary
Eleemosynary 鈥渞elating to alms or almsgiving鈥� comes from the Medieval Latin adjective 别濒别脓尘辞蝉测苍腻谤颈耻蝉, a derivative of the Late Latin noun 别濒别脓尘辞蝉测苍补 鈥渁lms,鈥� used by Christian Latin authors (Tertullian, St. Augustine of Hippo). Latin 别濒别脓尘辞蝉测苍补 is a borrowing from Greek 别濒别脓尘辞蝉媒苍脓 鈥減ity, mercy, compassion鈥� (and 鈥渁lms鈥� in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate), a derivative of the adjective 别濒别(别)颈苍贸蝉 鈥渞ousing compassion.鈥� The Greek forms derive from the noun 茅濒别辞蝉 鈥減ity, compassion,鈥� from which Greek forms the verb 别濒别别卯苍 鈥渢o pity, have pity on, feel pity for.鈥� The second singular active aorist imperative, 别濒茅脓蝉辞苍, as in the phrase from the Christian liturgy (in Latin transcription representing the Late Greek pronunciation) Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison 鈥淟ord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy鈥� will be familiar to those who like to listen to or take part in musical settings of the Latin Mass. Eleemosynary entered English in the first half of the 17th century.
how is eleemosynary used?
It would be fair enough to call Cornelia a power for good. I shared an apartment in New York with her the year before she was married, and I haven’t done so many eleemosynary acts in the whole rest of my life as I did during that time.
When a church collects money to then redistribute to the poor in its neighborhood, it performs an eleemosynary function.
eleemosynary
gravitas
noun
seriousness or sobriety, as of conduct or speech.
More about gravitas
Gravitas comes straight from the Latin noun 驳谤补惫颈迟腻蝉, which has many meanings: 鈥渟eriousness of conduct, temperament, or speech; solemnity or majesty (of a speaker or writer); authority, influence or importance (of a person or institution).鈥� (The inflectional stem of 驳谤补惫颈迟腻蝉 is 驳谤补惫颈迟腻迟-, which by regular phonetic change becomes 驳谤补惫颈迟茅 in French and gravity in English.) Gravitas became necessary in English because during the first half of the 17th century, gravity acquired its physical meanings 鈥渇orce of attraction, heaviness, gravitation,鈥� and a sentence like 鈥淭he Prime Minister displayed an unusual lack of gravity鈥� would be unintentionally humorous today. Gravitas entered English in the 1920s.
how is gravitas used?
Dad was gearing up to say something, a gradual process that involved shifting around in his chair, some throat-clearing, lifting his tea halfway to his mouth and putting it down again, so Paul and Grandma broke off their staring contest and waited for him to speak. Grief had lent him a certain gravitas.
… a growing number of independent research-oriented institutions like his own, Mr. Coogan said, have brought gravitas to a field that once seemed lighter than Spider-Man鈥檚 touch.
gravitas
scintillating
adjective
witty; brilliantly clever.
More about scintillating
Scintillating 鈥渨itty, brilliantly clever鈥� ultimately derives from the Latin noun scintilla 鈥済littering speck, spark.鈥� Scintilla and its few derivatives refer generally only to physical phenomena; the only metaphorical sense that scintilla has is of eyes flashing in anger or passion, not the sense of sparkling or flashing wit. Scintilla comes from the Proto-Indo-European root skai– (and its variants) 鈥渢o glow dully, reflect,鈥� as in Greek 蝉办颈腻虂 鈥渟hadow,鈥� Gothic skeinan 鈥渢o light, shine,鈥� and Old English 蝉肠墨苍补苍 (English shine). Finally, Tocharian B skiyo 鈥渟hadow, shade,鈥� is exactly equivalent to Greek 蝉办颈腻虂. Scintillating entered English in the second half of the 17th century in its literal sense; the sense 鈥渨itty, clever鈥� dates from the end of the 18th century.
how is scintillating used?
Across the crowded living room, where all the clever, scintillating talk and noise of a cocktail party seem nervous and inane, a boy and a girl suddenly see each other.
What had once seemed perhaps a bit flat next to the scintillating wit and effervescent sparkle of our mother came to seem the most valuable quality in the world one person could give another, infinite patience and attention ….
scintillating