51吃瓜 of the Day
tour de force
noun
a feat requiring unusual strength, skill, or ingenuity.
More about tour de force
Tour de force 鈥渁 feat requiring unusual strength, skill, or ingenuity鈥� is a borrowing from French, in which the phrase literally means 鈥渢urn of strength.鈥� French tour has two separate derivations: the noun tour 鈥渁 turn鈥� in tour de force is related to the verb tourner 鈥渢o turn鈥� (from Latin 迟辞谤苍腻谤别), and this tour is not to be confused with tour 鈥渢ower鈥� (from Latin turris). This distinction is why the Tour de France refers to a long, winding bicycle race while the tour Eiffel is the original French name for the Eiffel Tower. Other derivatives of Latin 迟辞谤苍腻谤别 鈥渢o turn鈥� include return, tourniquet, tourist, and tornado. Tour de force was first recorded in English circa the year 1800.
how is tour de force used?
鈥淭he idea that nature is not bound by the artificial boundaries that we assign to physics, chemistry, biology or mathematics has been around a long time,鈥� said astrophysicist Mayank Vahia …. He said the Nobel prize in physiology and medicine shared by Jim Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, for instance, for unraveling the double helix structure of DNA, might not have been won but for the technical (read physical) tour de force of X-ray diffraction studies achieved by Rosalind Franklin and her colleagues.
A tour de force from 1938, by the German-born Argentine Annemarie Heinrich in league with her sister Ursula, finds the two reflected in a mirrored orb. In the background鈥攆rom our point of view鈥擜nnemarie grins as she snaps the shutter of a standing camera; Ursula looms gigantically and wildly distorted as she leans forward to grasp the sphere. It takes time, enjoyably, to puzzle out the picture鈥檚 vertiginous structure.
tour de force
azimuth
noun
the arc of the horizon measured clockwise from the south point, in astronomy, or from the north point, in navigation, to the point where a vertical circle through a given heavenly body intersects the horizon.
More about azimuth
Azimuth 鈥渢he arc of the horizon measured clockwise鈥� derives by way of Middle French azimut from Arabic 补蝉-蝉耻尘奴迟 鈥渢he ways,鈥� an assimilated plural form of al-samt 鈥渢he way.鈥� As we learned from the recent听51吃瓜 of the Day acequia, the prefix al- 鈥渢he鈥� assimilates to match the first sound in the word that follows鈥攂ut only when that sound is pronounced with the tip of the tongue. Azimuth shares an origin with zenith 鈥渢he point on the celestial sphere vertically above a given position,鈥� but while azimuth closely resembles its Arabic source, zenith arose when Arabic samt was borrowed into Old Spanish as zemt and was subsequently misread as zenit. We never know when a small scribal error can end up creating a new word! Azimuth was first recorded in English in the late 14th century.
how is azimuth used?
While we say that the sun sets in the west, most times that鈥檚 not exactly the case …. [B]etween the first day of spring and the first day of autumn, the position on the horizon where the sun appears to set, known as the azimuth, actually occurs somewhat north of due west. The azimuth of the sunset slowly shifts northward until the day of the June solstice; thereafter, it reverses course and shifts back to the south. On June 21, the sun sets at an azimuth of 302 degrees, or 32 degrees north of due west. But for the setting sun to be seen from all of Manhattan鈥檚 cross streets, its azimuth must be 299 degrees, or 29 degrees north of due west.
azimuth
sciamachy
noun
an act or instance of fighting a shadow or an imaginary enemy.
More about sciamachy
Sciamachy 鈥渁n act of fighting a shadow鈥� is adapted from Ancient Greek 蝉办颈补尘补肠丑铆补, equivalent to 蝉办颈谩 鈥渟hadow鈥� and 尘谩肠丑脓 鈥渂补迟迟濒别.鈥� 厂办颈谩 is sometimes romanized as scia-, consistent with the Latin trend of changing Greek kappa to Roman c, but other derivatives of 蝉办颈谩 in English hew closely to the original spelling and appear as skia-, as in skiagraph 鈥渁 photographic image produced by the action of x-rays or nuclear radiation.鈥� 惭谩肠丑脓 is a popular element in technical terms related to fighting or warfare. When combined with 迟补没谤辞蝉 鈥渂ull,鈥� we get tauromachy 鈥渂ullfighting,鈥� and when combined with 濒贸驳辞蝉 鈥渨ord,鈥� we get logomachy 鈥渁 dispute about or concerning words.鈥� Sciamachy was first recorded in English circa 1620.
how is sciamachy used?
As farewells were played,
Order became disorder
And sciamachy took root.
In the dark place, where mirrors
Refracted black light
Breathing became ragged.
鈥�
And, I, cannot now
Recognise a face.
There is but a record
Of a dark place.
Aru is indulging in sciamachy. She has the frustrated look of a person combating a shadow, a shadow that absorbs her anger and gives her nothing in return. As for me, it was not only her questions that daunted me, it was her look as well, the clear-eyed, judging gaze鈥�
sciamachy