51吃瓜 of the Day
veracious
adjective
characterized by truthfulness; true, accurate, or honest in content.
More about veracious
Veracious 鈥渃haracterized by truthfulness鈥� is based on the noun veracity 鈥渢ruthfulness,鈥� combined with the adjective-forming suffix -ous. Veracity comes from Latin 惫脓谤腻虫 鈥渢ruthful,鈥� a derivative of 惫脓谤耻蝉, of the same meaning. As we learned from the recent 51吃瓜 of the Day aver, Latin 惫脓谤耻蝉 is a distant relative of Old English 飞牵谤 鈥渇aith, covenant,鈥� the source of warlock, which meant 鈥渙athbreaker鈥� once upon a time. Another derivative of 惫脓谤耻蝉 is Old French voir (modern French vrai) 鈥渢rue,鈥� as in voir dire (literally 鈥渢o say truly鈥�), a type of oath in which the voir element is often mistakenly believed to come from modern French voir 鈥渢o see.鈥� Be careful not to confuse veracious with voracious 鈥渃raving large amounts of food,鈥� from Latin 惫辞谤腻虫 鈥済濒耻迟迟辞苍辞耻蝉.鈥� Veracious was first recorded in the 1670s.
how is veracious used?
In the summer of 1854, Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins created the world鈥檚 first sculptures of dinosaurs for an exhibition at London鈥檚 Crystal Palace Park …. One newspaperman described the megalosaurus, the greatest of the 鈥渁ntediluvian monsters,鈥� as a scaly dragon with the 鈥渉ead of a gryphon鈥� and an 鈥渆ye as big as a cheese-cake.鈥� 鈥淭hese are the creatures,鈥� he wrote, 鈥渢hat prove fairy tales to be more veracious than ancient history.”
Accuracy activists have more ways than ever to shine a veracious light on the scourge of misinformation. At the same time, digital platforms provide more efficient vectors than ever for falsehoods to spread. It’s the fact-checkers’ paradox: even as they gain new powers to hold politicians accountable, lies are more persistent than ever.
gens du monde
plural noun
people of the world; leaders in society; fashionable people.
More about gens du monde
Gens du monde 鈥減eople of the world鈥� is a borrowing from French comprising gens 鈥减别辞辫濒别,鈥� du 鈥渙f the,鈥� and monde 鈥渨辞谤濒诲.鈥� Gens is a plural noun that comes from Latin 驳脓苍蝉 (stem gent-) 鈥渃lan, nation, race,鈥� which is also the source of gendarme, genteel, gentile, and gentle. The singular form of gens is gent, but only the plural gens is used in modern French; for perpetual plurals in modern English, compare binoculars, clothes, contents, jeans, outskirts, scissors, thanks, and trousers. French monde comes from Latin mundus, which originally meant 鈥渃lean鈥� before expanding to mean 鈥渆legant, decorated,鈥� then 鈥渙rnament, implement,鈥� and finally 鈥渢he heavens, world.鈥� Gens du monde was first recorded in English at the turn of the 19th century.
how is gens du monde used?
Her unconstrained shabbiness in Rome consisted in living in a very picturesque palazzo with two maids brought with her from Russia, a male factotum, and a number of Italian assistants; … in the evening, receiving an amusing assembly of gens du monde and celebrities…
These literary gens du monde have the tact to observe, but not the patience, perhaps not the time, to investigate. They make the maxim, but they never explain to you the train of reasoning which led to it. Hence they are more brilliant than true.
ailurophile
noun
a person who likes cats.
More about ailurophile
Ailurophile 鈥渁 person who likes cats” is a compound of two Ancient Greek-origin combining forms: ailuro- 鈥渃at鈥� and -phile 鈥渓over of, enthusiast for.鈥� Ailuro- comes from Ancient Greek 补铆濒辞耻谤辞蝉 鈥渃at,鈥� which is of uncertain origin, but a popular explanation is that it is based on 补颈贸濒辞蝉 鈥渇ickle, changeful鈥� (compare aeolo-, as in aeolotropic) and 辞耻谤谩 鈥渢ail鈥� (compare uro-, as in uropod). The word 补颈贸濒辞蝉 also gives rise to the name Aeolus, the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology, and past听51吃瓜 of the Day aeolian 鈥渙f or caused by the wind,鈥� but it is not related to the combining form aero- 鈥渁ir.鈥� Take care not to confuse uro- 鈥渢ail鈥� with uro- 鈥渦rine,鈥� which comes from Ancient Greek 辞没谤辞苍. Despite the similar spelling, there does not appear to be any deeper connection between the two forms. Ailurophile was first recorded in English in the late 1920s.
how is ailurophile used?
There was a time when I managed to keep a lid on my love for all things feline …. Matters began to really get out of hand … when I married a fellow ailurophile.
Does Alicia have a dog or cat or nothing? I decide on a cat called Chestnut. An old cat with one blind eye. Alicia is not a serious ailurophile, however; she neglects Chestnut, and Chestnut knows it.