51吃瓜 of the Day
pruinose
adjective
covered with a frostlike bloom or powdery secretion, as a plant surface.
More about pruinose
Pruinose 鈥渃overed with a frostlike bloom or powdery secretion鈥� comes from Latin 辫谤耻墨苍艒蝉耻蝉 鈥渇rosty,鈥� from 辫谤耻墨苍补 鈥渇rost鈥� and the adjectival suffix -艒蝉耻蝉 鈥渇ull of, consisting of.鈥� 笔谤耻墨苍补 and frost are in fact distantly related; just as we learned from the recent 51吃瓜 of the Day corvine that Latin c often corresponds to English h (compare cor/heart and caput/head), Latin p often corresponds to English f. This pattern can also be seen in pairs such as Latin pater and English father, Latin paucus and English few, Latin 辫脓蝉 and English foot, and English farrow 鈥渓itter of pigs鈥� and Latin porcus 鈥减颈驳.鈥� Pruinose was first recorded in English in the 1820s.
how is pruinose used?
Native to Mexico, ghost plant (Graptopetalum paraguayense) are evergreen plants with light blue to gray, pink foliage that give it a “ghostly” appearance due to a powdery coating known as pruinose that covers the plant’s leaves.
The guidebooks are full of other gorgeous words to describe these creatures with the biplane wings. Teneral bugs are those that recently emerged from their shed skins, known as exuviae, and must rest undisturbed while their shells harden. Pruinose describes the blue or white powder that covers the insects as they age.
pruinose
mystique
noun
a framework of doctrines, ideas, beliefs, or the like, constructed around a person or object, endowing the person or object with enhanced value or profound meaning.
More about mystique
Mystique 鈥渁 framework of ideas endowing a person with profound meaning鈥� is a borrowing from French and is cognate to English mystic. Both mystic and mystique derive by way of Latin from Ancient Greek 尘媒蝉迟脓蝉 鈥渋nitiate into the mysteries鈥�; mysteries, in this context, are sacred rites and customs only known to a small, select group of people鈥攎uch like how only one person or a few people know the facts behind a mystery. 惭媒蝉迟脓蝉 comes from the verb 尘测别卯苍 鈥渢o initiate, teach,鈥� from the similarly spelled verb 尘媒别颈苍 鈥渢o close (the lips or eyes).鈥� The implication here is that, when new initiates are exposed to the mysteries, they will stay close-lipped about what they see. Mystique was first recorded in English in the early 1890s.
how is mystique used?
It鈥檚 clear why legendary Scottish warrior Sc谩thach chose this tucked-away-from-the-world spot to found her impenetrable college of martial combat. Promising students would come from far and wide to train in warfare and sorcery here, and to learn in secret from perhaps the greatest fighter the Celtic realms have ever known. But what ultimately happened to the powerful warrior queen Sc谩thach remains a mystery; the lack of any known tomb only adds to her mystique. Since the Middle Ages, legend has it that she鈥檒l return when the world needs her most.
Timbuktu conjures up images of long camel caravans out on the edge of the sand-strewn Sahara鈥攁 remoteness so legendary that the ancient city is still a byword for the end of the earth 鈥�. Even the spelling of the place has added to the mystique. It appeared as 鈥淭enbuch鈥� in the Catalan Atlas (1375) and has since been variously rendered as 鈥淭hambet,鈥� 鈥淭imbuctoo鈥� and 鈥淭imbuktoo.鈥� In official documents produced by the government of France, Mali鈥檚 former colonial master, it is often spelled 鈥淭ombouctou.鈥�
mystique
whigmaleerie
noun
a whimsical or fanciful ornament or contrivance; gimmick.
More about whigmaleerie
Whigmaleerie 鈥渁 whimsical or fanciful ornament or contrivance鈥� is a noun from Scots, a language that is spoken today by over one million people in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Scots is not the same as Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language closely related to Irish Gaelic; instead, Scots and modern English both descend from Middle English and diverged approximately 800 years ago. Whigmaleerie, earlier figmalirie, is most likely a fanciful and elaborate invention based on common elements in expressive words. The initial fig– could be based on Scots fig 鈥渢o move briskly鈥� (perhaps related to fidget), while the medial –ma– could be inspired by the similar-sounding syllable in words such as rigmarole and thingamabob. Whigmaleerie was first recorded in English in the 1720s.
how is whigmaleerie used?
The Cathedral itself corresponds in impressive majesty with these accompaniments. We feel that its appearance is heavy, yet that the effect produced would be destroyed were it lighter or more ornamental. 鈥� Andrew Fairservice, who saw with great pride the effect which it produced upon my mind, thus accounted for its preservation. 鈥楢h! [I]t鈥檚 a brave kirk鈥攏ane o鈥� yere whigmaleeries and curliewurlies and open-steek hems about it[.鈥橾
鈥淛ewelry-making is a big cottage industry here. Would you like to stop at one of the shops and look over the whigmaleeries?鈥� 鈥�. They had paused at a window display that seemed to Dee like the open mouth of a pirate鈥檚 treasure cave. Strings of richly glowing pearls in every color imaginable hung from perches and gleamed in overflowing baskets. There were pearl bracelets, pearl earrings, armlets, pins, hair ornaments, and rings.
whigmaleerie