51吃瓜 of the Day
nyctophobia
noun
an irrational or disproportionate fear of night or nighttime darkness.
More about nyctophobia
Nyctophobia 鈥渇ear of night or nighttime darkness鈥� is a compound of the combining forms nycto- 鈥渘ight鈥� and -phobia 鈥渇别补谤.鈥� Nycto- derives from Ancient Greek 苍媒虫, of the same meaning, and comes from the same Proto-Indo-European root, nekwt-, found in English night, German nacht, and the Latin-derived terms equinox and nocturnal. In Greek mythology, Nyx was the primordial goddess and personification of nighttime who mated with Erebus, the god of darkness, to create Aether, the god of the upper air, and Hemera, the goddess of daytime. The ending -phobia is commonly used to indicate fear, and the opposite is -philia; while nyctophobia is fear of darkness, nyctophilia is love of darkness. The ending 鈥损丑辞产颈补 derives from Ancient Greek 辫丑贸产辞蝉 鈥渇ear鈥� (but originally 鈥渇light鈥�), which is related to Latin fugere 鈥渢o flee,鈥� as in fugitive. 听Nyctophobia was first recorded in English in the early 1890s.
how is nyctophobia used?
鈥淏ut wasn鈥檛 it dark inside the trunk?鈥� Nora asked. 鈥淚f Ashley had nyctophobia she wouldn鈥檛 have climbed in there鈥� …. He shook his head. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what to think. I didn鈥檛 recognize the Ashley I knew in any of this, this witch we鈥檝e been tracking. Curses on the floor? Nyctophobia? Ashley wasn鈥檛 afraid of the dark. She wasn鈥檛 afraid of anything.鈥�
nyctophobia
sanguivorous
adjective
feeding on blood, as a bat or insect.
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Sanguivorous 鈥渇eeding on blood鈥� is a compound of the combining forms sangui- 鈥渂lood鈥� and -vorous 鈥渄别惫辞耻谤颈苍驳.鈥� Sangui- derives from Latin sanguis, of the same meaning, but the story does not stop there. Continuing a common pattern in the Indo-European language family, the Romans had two words for 鈥渂lood鈥濃��sanguis and cruor鈥攁nd while sanguis implicitly referred to blood inside the body, cruor referred to blood outside the body, particularly in violent contexts. In this way, it should come as little surprise that cruor is distantly related to English raw (Old English 丑谤脓补飞) and Ancient Greek 办谤茅补蝉 鈥渞aw flesh,鈥� while sanguis may be a compound of the Proto-Indo-European roots for 鈥渂lood鈥� and 鈥渢o pour.鈥� While cruor survives today to some extent in modern Romance languages, it is sanguis that serves as the root of most Romance words for 鈥渂lood,鈥� such as French sang, Italian/Portuguese sangue, and Spanish sangre. Sanguivorous was first recorded in English in the mid-1800s.
how is sanguivorous used?
鈥淚n humans, anaphylactic shock can be fatal; in sanguivores, it鈥檚 less dangerous but still extraordinarily unpleasant. Garlic is to you as peanuts are to your cousin; I cannot overemphasize the importance of this鈥攁nd it鈥檚 not just garlic, it鈥檚 several other members of the allium family to lesser extents .鈥� Sanguivore just means 鈥榚ater of blood鈥� .鈥� The older term was hemophagous, but these days, all creatures who feed on blood are known as sanguivorous.鈥�
Only three mammalian species are sanguivorous鈥攖hat鈥檚 blood feeding鈥攁nd they are all bats. Blood, apparently, is not that nutritious. It has almost no carbs, fats, or vitamins; its high iron levels can disrupt heart, liver, and pancreas function; its obscenely high protein and salt levels can cause renal disease if nitrogenous waste products build up. It contains pathogens. It clots. Vampire bats have some obvious adaptations to allow them to survive on their limited and macabre diet.
sanguivorous
ravenous
adjective
extremely hungry; famished; voracious.
More about ravenous
Ravenous 鈥渆xtremely hungry鈥� is a borrowing from Old French that derives ultimately from the Latin noun 谤补辫墨苍补 鈥減lunder, robbery, pillage鈥�; the sense shifted in Old French from 鈥減lunder鈥� to describe people who are likely to plunder and then to the associated personality traits of plunderers, such as 鈥渧iolent鈥� and 鈥済reedy,鈥� and eventually came to mean 鈥渉ungry.鈥� 搁补辫墨苍补 comes from the verb rapere 鈥渢o seize,鈥� which is the source of words such as rapacious, rapid, rapt, ravish, surreptitious, and usurp. A common misconception is that ravenous is related to raven, the black-feathered bird, but raven is of Germanic origin, from Old English 丑谤牵蹿苍, and may be a distant relative of Latin corvus 鈥渞aven鈥� and Ancient Greek 办贸谤补虫 鈥渞aven, crow.鈥� (In addition, despite the similar spelling and meaning, crow is not related to corvus鈥攖hough crows and ravens are part of the genus Corvus.) Ravenous was first recorded in English in the late 1300s.
how is ravenous used?
Locusts are ravenous eaters. An adult desert locust that weighs about 2 grams (a fraction of an ounce) can consume roughly its own weight daily. And they’re not picky at all.
The merest suggestion of mouth and I was ravenous鈥擨 filled the house with chocolate, chestnuts, strudel, blood sausage; I bathed in butter.
ravenous