51吃瓜 of the Day
saponaceous
adjective
resembling soap; soapy.
More about saponaceous
Saponaceous, 鈥渟oapy,鈥� comes straight from the New Latin adjective 蝉腻辫艒苍腻肠别耻蝉. (New Latin, also called Modern Latin, is Latin that developed after, say, 1500; it is used especially and typically in the physical sciences, such as zoology, botany, and anatomy.) 厂腻辫艒苍腻肠别耻蝉 is formed from the Latin 蝉腻辫艒 noun (inflective stem 蝉腻辫艒n-) and the adjectival suffix –腻肠别耻蝉, meaning 鈥渕ade of, resembling.鈥� 厂腻辫艒 means 鈥渁 preparation for drying or coloring one鈥檚 hair,鈥� and it is one of the relatively few words in Latin borrowed from Germanic (as compared to the many, many words in Germanic borrowed from Latin). Saponaceous also has the uncommon sense 鈥渟lippery, unctuous,鈥� which appeared in the 19th century: 鈥淭his鈥� judgment was鈥� so oily, so saponaceous, that no one could grasp it.鈥� Saponaceous entered English in the early 18th century.
how is saponaceous used?
The fruit of this plant is about the size of a large gooseberry, the outer covering or shell of which contains a聽saponaceous聽principle in sufficient abundance to produce a lather with water and is used as a substitute for soap.
The yolk contains natural food for the hair, iron and sulphur; while the white, being a mild alkali, finds its congenial mate in the oil from the sebaceous glands, and they mingle in a saponaceous lather.
saponaceous
ylem
noun
the hypothetical initial substance of the universe from which all matter is derived.
Why we chose ylem
Today's word was submitted by one of our readers as part of our 51吃瓜 of the Day Giveaway Sweepstakes! The winner, Matthew Winter, told us: "It makes me think about how everything is connected. All living and inanimate things originate from the same source; we are all ylem." Congrats, Matthew!
More about ylem
The modern definition of ylem is 鈥渢he hypothetical initial substance of the universe from which all matter is derived, originally conceived as composed of neutrons at high temperature and density.鈥� The spelling of ylem comes from John Gower鈥檚 33,000-line poem Confessio Amantis (A Lover鈥檚 Confession) finished in 1390: 鈥淭hat matere universall / Which hight Ylem in speciall鈥� (“That universal matter which is called Ylem in particular鈥�). Gower鈥檚 ylem is one of several Middle English spellings (also ile, ilem, ylem) from Medieval Latin 丑测虅濒脓尘 or 测虅濒脓尘, the accusative singular of 丑测虅濒脓 or 测虅濒脓, from Greek 丑测虅虂濒脓 鈥渇orest, woodland, wood, firewood鈥�; Aristotle uses the phrase pr峁搕膿 丑测虅虂濒脓 鈥減rimary stuff, matter, material.鈥� In 1948 Robert Herman and Ralph Asher Alpher, associates of Russia-born U.S. nuclear physicist George Gamow, adopted the medieval word because, as Alpher said,鈥� it seems highly desirable that a word of so appropriate a meaning be resurrected.鈥�
how is ylem used?
One can call the mixture of particles ylem ( pronounced eelem ) -the name that Aristotle gave to primordial matter.
The Ylem is the primordial鈥攖he Ur-stuff鈥攐ut of which everything else is made.
ylem
More about iwis
Iwis is an obsolete, archaic adverb meaning 鈥渃ertainly, surely.鈥� The very many Middle English spellings of the adverb include wisse, iwise, jwis(se), gwisse, ewis, awis, iwesse鈥�, all of which come from the Old English adverb gewis 鈥渃ertainly, indeed, truly.鈥� Old English gewis shows its close kinship with German 驳别飞颈脽 (also spelled gewiss) 鈥渃ertainly, surely鈥� (as in Ja, 驳别飞颈脽! 鈥淵es, certainly!鈥� in lesson 3 of German 101). During the 14th century the spellings i-wis, i-wisse (with other variants) began appearing in manuscripts, and in the second half of the 15th century, I wise appears as well, which shows that the writers or scribes no longer knew exactly what iwis meant, but thought it was a subject pronoun followed by the聽 (nonexistent) verb wis 鈥渒now鈥�; thus I wis was misinterpreted to mean 鈥淚 know.鈥� Iwis entered English before 900.
how is iwis used?
There be fools alive, iwis, / Silver’d o’er; and so was this.
For there by magic skill, iwis, / Form of each thing that living is / Was limned in proper dye.
iwis