20 September 2013

pluvial

[ploo-vee-uhl]

adjective
1. of or pertaining to rain, especially much rain; rainy.
2. Geology . occurring through the action of rain.
noun
3. Geology . a rainy period formerly regarded as coeval with a glacial age, but now recognized as episodic and, in the tropics, as characteristic of interglacial ages.
Origin:
1650–60; < Latin pluviālis, equivalent to pluvi ( a ) rain + -ālis -al1

Related forms
in·ter·plu·vi·al, adjective

Today’s aphorism

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.

– Maya Angelou

On this day

20 September 2001 – U.S. President George W. Bush declares a ‘war on terror’.

20 September 2011 – the U.S. military ends its ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, allowing gay servicemen and women to serve openly.