51吃瓜 of the Day
More about vernal
Vernal 鈥渞elating to the season of spring鈥� comes from the pretty rare Latin adjective 惫别谤苍腻濒颈蝉, a derivative of the far more common adjective vernus. Vernus is a derivative of the noun 惫脓谤 鈥渢he season of spring,鈥� from Proto-Indo-European 飞别蝉峁�-, which becomes 惫腻谤 in Old Norse, 茅补谤 (and w茅补谤) in Greek, 惫补蝉补谤脿 in Lithuanian, and vesna in Old Church Slavonic. Vernal entered English in the first half of the 16th century.
how is vernal used?
The vernal equinox is one of two points in Earth’s orbit where the sun creates equal periods of daytime and nighttime across the globe. Many people mark it as the first day of the spring.
To this riot of stimuli, this vernal bombardment of the senses, I have capitulated without a fight.
vernal
gasconade
noun
extravagant boasting; boastful talk.
More about gasconade
Gasconade 鈥渆xtravagant boasting; boastful talk鈥� comes straight from French gasconnade 鈥渂ragging, boasting, a boastful story,鈥� from the noun Gascon, denoting an inhabitant of Gascony in southwest France. Gascon聽ultimately comes from Latin Vasco, 痴补蝉肠艒 (inflectional stem Vascon-, 痴补蝉肠艒n-), originally denoting the inhabitants of Vasconia, the territory on either side of the Pyrenees. Vascones becomes Guascones in Medieval Latin: Vasco is the source of Basque, and Guascon the source of Gascon. Gasconade entered English in the mid-17th century.
how is gasconade used?
We may also have figured out, or most of us may have, that the bluster and gasconade of the fear-mongers hasn鈥檛 really done us much good.
The president was impressed by Hooker’s achievements but disturbed by his gasconade.
gasconade
nescience
noun
lack of knowledge; ignorance.
More about nescience
Nescience, 鈥渓ack of knowledge, ignorance,鈥� comes straight from Late Latin nescientia, a noun formed from nescient-, the stem of 苍别蝉肠颈脓苍蝉, the present participle of 苍别蝉肠墨谤别 鈥渢o be ignorant, not to know,鈥� and the Latin (and Greek) noun suffix –ia. In Latin (and other archaic Indo-European languages, with the exception of Greek), ne– was the original negative for sentences: thus the pair 蝉肠颈艒 鈥淚 know,鈥� and ne蝉肠颈艒 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know.鈥� The usual sentence negative in Classical Latin is 苍艒苍, probably from earlier noenum “not one (thing),” itself a strengthening of ne with oenum (Classical Latin 奴苍耻尘). Something similar happened in English, the adverb not being a reduced form of nought (also naught), a compound of the negative adverb ne and the noun wiht 鈥渢hing, wight.鈥� Nescience entered English in the first half of the 17th century.
how is nescience used?
Verily, geology might be termed “man’s nescience of creation,” wherein he best learns how little he can know.
The unexpected vantage point can help induce a beneficial nescience that disarms us of existing tools and systems of thinking.
nescience