51吃瓜 of the Day
teocalli
noun
a ceremonial structure of the Aztec Empire, consisting of a truncated terraced pyramid supporting a temple.
More about teocalli
Teocalli 鈥渁 ceremonial structure comprising a pyramid and temple鈥� derives by way of Spanish from Nahuatl 迟别艒迟濒 鈥済od鈥� and calli 鈥渉ouse.鈥� In this context, when we say 鈥淣ahuatl,鈥� we are referring to classical Nahuatl, a language once spoken in the Aztec Empire that has since evolved into a group of dialects with 1.7 million speakers in modern Mexico. Nahuatl is a member of the Uto-Aztecan family, which has daughter languages spoken throughout the western regions of both the United States and Mexico, plus in portions of Central America. This means that, although 迟别艒迟濒 bears a passing resemblance to Indo-European 鈥済od鈥� words such as Latin deus (compare Spanish dios) and Ancient Greek theos, the resemblance is merely a coincidence. Other members of the Uto-Aztecan family include the Comanche, Hopi, Northern and Southern Paiute, and Shoshone. Teocalli was first recorded in English circa 1610.
how is teocalli used?
The centrepiece is a teocalli, a massive votive sculpture in the shape of a temple platform, built in 1507 to mark the end of a 52-year cycle in the Mexica calendar. It carries an image of Moctezuma himself, flanking that of Huitzilopochtli, the god of war and the sun. This is the Mexica ruler at the height of his power, a god among gods.
The patron god was seen to reside within the mountain or to be the mountain proper; a replica of the sacred entity, the teocalli, 鈥渟acred-force-house,鈥� which was 鈥渏ust an artificial mountain with levels, with steps鈥� 鈥� was placed symbolically at the heart of the community.
teocalli
polychromatic
adjective
having or exhibiting a variety of colors.
More about polychromatic
Polychromatic 鈥渆xhibiting a variety of colors鈥� is a compound of two Ancient Greek elements: the combining form poly- 鈥渕any鈥� and the adjective chromatic 鈥減ertaining to color.鈥� Poly- comes from Ancient Greek 辫辞濒媒蝉 鈥渕any,鈥� which is not to be confused with the similar-sounding word 辫贸濒颈蝉 鈥渃ity.鈥� Instead, the plural of 辫辞濒媒蝉, 辫辞濒濒辞铆, is the source of the expression hoi polloi 鈥渢he masses,鈥� and 辫辞濒媒蝉 is a cognate of Latin 辫濒奴蝉 (stem 辫濒奴谤-) 鈥渕ore,鈥� the source of plural and surplus. Chromatic derives from Ancient Greek 肠丑谤么尘补 鈥渃olor鈥� and also appears in compound terms isochromatic 鈥渉aving the same color鈥� and monochromatic 鈥渉aving tones of one color.鈥� Polychromatic was first recorded in English in the 1840s.
how is polychromatic used?
In July the Internet exploded with a photo of schoolchildren …. In the center of the image, a crouching girl in a yellow T-shirt holds a medium-sized turtle toward an adult taking a picture of the scene. Smiling classmates, dressed in matching white, green, red and blue T-shirts, gather around the girl and turtle …. [A] closer examination reveals that the many hues in the background and the children鈥檚 clothing are not real colors. The seemingly polychromatic image is actually black-and-white, overlaid with a thin multicolored grid.
Polychromatic displays became a global phenomenon soon after Italian pyrotechnicians, in the 1830s, leveraged metallic powders to create specific colors. From fizzling handheld sparklers to elaborately orchestrated displays, fireworks have been a part of celebrations for centuries.
polychromatic
felicitous
adjective
well-suited for the occasion, as an action, manner, or expression; apt; appropriate.
More about felicitous
Felicitous 鈥渨ell-suited for the occasion,鈥� based on the noun felicity 鈥渉appiness; skillful faculty,鈥� derives from Latin 蹿脓濒墨肠颈迟腻蝉 鈥済ood luck, happiness.鈥� 贵脓濒墨肠颈迟腻蝉 comes from the adjective 蹿脓濒墨虫 (stem 蹿脓濒墨肠颈-) 鈥渓ucky, happy,鈥� plus the noun-forming suffix -迟腻蝉 鈥�-苍别蝉蝉.鈥� 贵脓濒墨虫 and its descendants in modern Romance languages show a common pattern, namely, that a word for 鈥渓ucky鈥� in a mother language eventually gains the additional sense of 鈥渉appy,鈥� and either the 鈥渉appy鈥� sense alone or, less often, both senses are preserved in a daughter language. We can see this tendency when we compare Latin 蹿脓濒墨虫 鈥渓ucky, happy鈥� with Spanish feliz 鈥渉appy鈥� and Italian felice 鈥渉appy, lucky鈥� (though the 鈥渓ucky鈥� sense in Italian is only in certain contexts). A stronger example lies in the English language itself, in which happy derives from the noun hap 鈥渓uck,鈥� which is also the source of the verb happen. Felicitous was first recorded in English circa 1730.
how is felicitous used?
I have the desire in my photographs to link a still life to a landscape, so by photographing through the glass, I was able to render the water, and the sky, and the landscape as one scene. And I just tried to compose the fish into the landscape. So it鈥檚 a committed composition that the fish are swimming through and it鈥檚 just a matter of timing it and taking a number of frames of images. It was an idea that one of those frames would have the most felicitous composition, one that has the best relationship of the foreground to the background.
I have successfully made it to swimming holes that did, in fact, exist at the time of my arrival …. The swimming holes are what happen when the water pauses on its own and, entering into some felicitous arrangement with the rocks and soil, renders a space wide and deep enough to hold some stillness.
felicitous