51吃瓜 of the Day
More about smaragdine
Smaragdine, 鈥渆merald-green in color,鈥� comes via Latin smaragdus from Ancient Greek 蝉尘谩谤补驳诲辞蝉, 鈥渆merald,鈥� which may derive either by way of Sanskrit or directly from a Semitic source akin to Hebrew 产腻谤别辩别迟丑 鈥済emstone, emerald.鈥� 叠腻谤别辩别迟丑 and its Arabic relative barq, 鈥渓ightning,鈥� come from a Semitic root roughly meaning 鈥渢o flash, shine.鈥� Because of a variety of regular sound changes, Latin smaragdus evolved into Old French esmeragde (also esmeralde) and was adapted into English as emerald. For fans of Disney or Victor Hugo, this Old French word is also the source of the name Esmeralda. Smaragdine was first recorded in English in the late 14th century.
EXAMPLE OF SMARAGDINE USED IN A SENTENCE
Because the ink was not yet dry on the drawing of the Emerald City, the artist left a smaragdine smear when he brushed his hand against the page.
More about rubricate
Rubricate, 鈥渢o mark or color with red,鈥� comes from Latin 谤奴产谤墨肠补, 鈥渞ed ocher,鈥� which is also the source of English rubric, 鈥渁ny established mode of conduct or procedure.鈥� The shift in definition here is because rubric originally referred in English to a title or heading in a book that was written in red for easy distinction from the rest of the text (in black), and red ocher was ground to produce the pigment once used in red ink. 搁奴产谤墨肠补 comes from ruber, which is one of multiple Latin words for 鈥渞ed,鈥� as we learned from the 51吃瓜 of the Day rufescent. Rubricate was first recorded in English in the 1560s.
EXAMPLE OF RUBRICATE USED IN A SENTENCE
Looking at the old tome through the display case glass, she imagined the scribe who painstakingly rubricated聽all of the chapter headings.
precocity
noun
the state of or tendency to be flowering, fruiting, or ripening early, as plants or fruit.
More about precocity
Precocity, 鈥渢he state of ripening early,鈥� ultimately comes from Latin praecox, 鈥渆arly ripening,鈥� from the verb praecoquere, 鈥渢o bake early, ripen early.鈥� The prae- element means 鈥渂efore鈥� and is the ancestor of English pre-; Latin ae often becomes English e, as we also saw in the 51吃瓜 of the Day preternatural. The verb coquere, 鈥渢o cook,鈥� is the source of numerous words in English, whether from Latin directly (concoct), by way of French (biscuit, charcuterie, cuisine), via Italian (ricotta, terra cotta), through Old English (cook, kitchen), or using another route entirely (apricot). Precocity was first recorded in English in the 1630s.
EXAMPLE OF PRECOCITY USED IN A SENTENCE
After centuries of hybridizing the plant, the strawberry is now widely known for its precocity.