51吃瓜 of the Day
mizzle
verb (used with or without object)
to rain in fine drops; drizzle; mist.
More about mizzle
The word mizzle, both noun and verb, is dialectal and regional in the U.S. The verb comes from Middle English misellen (missill) 鈥渢o drizzle,鈥� and is related to Middle Dutch misel 鈥渇og, dew鈥� and Dutch dialect miezelen 鈥渢o rain gently.鈥� The noun sense entered English in the late 15th century.
how is mizzle used?
It had started to mizzle again as a matter of course; that sunshine had been far too fragile; now it had relapsed into a suffused presence behind the ceiling of steady grey.
By the time I left the cathedral it was already dark,聽mizzling, the kind of rain that looks like mist but drenches you in minutes.
definiendum
noun
something that is or is to be defined, especially the term at the head of a dictionary entry.
More about definiendum
Definiendum comes straight from Latin 诲脓蹿墨苍颈别苍诲耻尘 鈥渢o be defined.鈥� In Latin grammar, 诲脓蹿墨苍颈别苍诲耻尘 is a gerundive, a kind of verbal adjective showing, among other things, obligation or necessity. 顿脓蹿墨苍颈别苍诲耻尘 derives from the verb 诲脓蹿墨苍墨谤别 鈥渢o fix the limits of, bound, define,鈥� a compound of the preposition and intensive prefix 诲脓, 诲脓– and the simple verb 蹿墨苍墨谤别 鈥渢o mark out or form the boundaries of,鈥� a derivative of the noun 蹿墨苍颈蝉 鈥渂oundary (of a territory).鈥� Definiendum is a technical term used in lexicography and logic. A similar gerundive, demonstrandum 鈥渢o be demonstrated,鈥� appears in Q.E.D., an abbreviation of quod erat 诲脓monstrandum, 鈥渨hat was to be demonstrated,鈥� used at the end of a proof in geometry. Definiendum entered English in the second half of the 19th century.
how is definiendum used?
Discussions of definition distinguish between the definiendum (the word or phrase that is to be defined) and the definiens (the word of phrase that is used to define it).
Don’t make the definiens technical or subtle if the definiendum is not technical or subtle.
canting
adjective
affectedly or hypocritically pious or righteous: a canting social reformer.
More about canting
Canting comes from one of the senses of the verb cant, 鈥渢o talk hypocritically or with affected piety.鈥� One of the famed lexicographer Samuel Johnson鈥檚 five senses for cant is 鈥淎 whining pretension to goodness, in formal and affected terms.鈥� Cant and canting ultimately come from Latin 肠补苍迟腻谤别 鈥渢o sing.鈥� 颁补苍迟腻谤别 and its derivatives such as cantus 鈥渟ong, chant, chanting鈥� were used contemptuously in Medieval Latin for perfunctory and lackluster liturgical chanting of the hours. In English by the first half of the 18th century, cant also meant 鈥渢he singsong whining or chants of beggars; the phraseology peculiar to a particular class, party, or profession,鈥� and “insincere, conventional expressions of enthusiasm for high ideals, goodness, or piety.鈥� Canting entered English in the second half of the 16th century.
how is canting used?
He’s a villain in disguise; that’s my opinion of him. A low,聽canting听丑测辫辞肠谤颈迟别.
While conducting a petty, politically motivated trial and listening to a canting, ideological prosecutor, she looks bored and casts her glance aside.