51吃瓜 of the Day
peri
noun
one of a large group of beautiful, fairylike beings of Persian mythology, represented as descended from fallen angels.
More about peri
Peri, 鈥渁 fairylike being of Persian mythology,鈥� comes from Persian 辫补谤墨, 鈥渇airy,鈥� which evolved from 辫补颈谤颈办腻, 鈥渨itch,鈥� in Avestan, a long-extinct language of southwestern Asia. Though p in most Indo-European languages tends to correspond to English f, peri is not related to fairy, which derives by way of Old French from Latin. However, it is interesting to note that, just as peri evolved in sense from 鈥渨itch鈥� to 鈥渇airy,鈥� an earlier sense of fairy in Old French was 鈥渆nchantment, witchcraft.鈥� Peri was first recorded in English in the 1770s.
EXAMPLE OF PERI USED IN A SENTENCE
It caught his breath to see the peri slowly descending from the air, floating on its feathered wings.
rabble-rouse
verb
to stir up the emotions or prejudices of the public; agitate.
More about rabble-rouse
Rabble-rouse, 鈥渢o stir up the public鈥檚 emotions,鈥� is a back formation from rabble-rouser, which is a compound of the noun rabble, 鈥渁 disorderly crowd,鈥� and the verb rouse, 鈥渢o stir to anger.鈥� Rabble is of uncertain origin, but it may be related to Middle Dutch rabbelen, 鈥渢o speak hurriedly.鈥� An earlier sense of rouse was 鈥渢o shake the feathers鈥� and referred to hawks, and while the origin of rouse is equally uncertain, one hypothesis is a connection to Latin 谤别肠奴蝉腻谤别, meaning 鈥渢o demur, object,鈥� which is the source of English recuse. Rabble-rouse was first recorded in English in the late 1950s.
EXAMPLE OF RABBLE-ROUSE USED IN A SENTENCE
Though at first its organizers were accused of mere rabble-rousing, the civil rights march evolved into a widely-celebrated parade.
retcon
verb
to later revise an established element of a fictional story.
More about retcon
Retcon, 鈥渢o later revise (an established element of a fictional story),鈥� is a shortening based on the first syllables in retroactive continuity. This type of shortening is called syllabic abbreviation, and other common examples in English include fro-yo (from frozen yogurt), hazmat (from hazardous material), and sitcom (from situation comedy). Ultimately, retroactive is from Latin 谤别迟谤艒, 鈥渂ack, backward,鈥� combined with agere (past participle stem 腻肠迟-), 鈥渢o do,鈥� while continuity is formed from Latin con-, 鈥渨ith, together,鈥� combined with 迟别苍脓谤别 (combining stem tin-), 鈥渢o hold.鈥� Retcon was first recorded in the early 1980s.
EXAMPLE OF RETCON USED IN A SENTENCE
Though the first season showed the doctor naming the family spaceship after her favorite Norse god, later seasons retconned this and gave all the ships that same name.