20 March 2017

crenulate or crenulated

[kren-yuh-leyt, -lit or kren-yuh-ley-tid]

adjective

1. minutely crenate, as the margin of certain leaves. Having the margin notched or scalloped so as to form rounded teeth, as a leaf.

Origin of crenulate

1785-1795; < New Latin crēnulātus, equivalent to crēnul (a) (diminutive of crēna notch; see crenate ) + -ātus -ate1

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for crenulate

Historical Examples

They are both ventricose, thin, inflated shells, with large body-whorls and crenulated lips.
The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide
Augusta Foote Arnold

It is much like the Venus shells in form, but the margins are not crenulated.
The Sea Shore
William S. Furneaux

crenulated : Having a series of notches; marked as with notches, as the indented margin of a shell.
The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide
Augusta Foote Arnold

Anagram

cereal nut
tuner lace
true clean
lean truce

Today’s quote

Everything is clearer when you’re in love.

– John Lennon

On this day

20 March – International Day of Happiness (first stated in 2012 by the UN)

20 March 1969 – John Lennon marries Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.

20 March 1995 – Sarin gas, a nerve agent, is released in a Tokyo subway, killing 12 people and injuring 5,500. A doomsday cult known as Aum Shinrikyo is responsible.

19 March 2017

affectation

[af-ek-tey-shuh n]

noun

1. an effort to appear to have a quality not really or fully possessed; the pretense of actual possession:
an affectation of interest in art; affectation of great wealth.
2. conspicuous artificiality of manner or appearance; effort to attract notice by pretense, assumption, or any assumed peculiarity.
3. a trait, action, or expression characterized by such artificiality:
a man of a thousand affectations.
4. Obsolete.
strenuous pursuit, desire, or aspiration.
affection; fondness:
his affectation of literature.

Origin of affectation

Latin

1540-1550; < Latin affectātiōn- (stem of affectātiō) a striving after, equivalent to affectāt (us), past participle of affectāre to affect2(see -ate1) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms

nonaffectation, noun
Can be confused Expand
affectation, affection.

Synonyms

2. pretension, airs, mannerisms, pose.

Antonyms

2. artlessness, simplicity, sincerity.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for affectation

Contemporary Examples

What is a distinctive habit or affectation related to the writing process?
How I Write: Michael Connelly
Noah Charney
January 7, 2014

What is a distinctive habit or affectation of yours related to writing?
How I Write: Jared Diamond
Noah Charney
November 19, 2013

Saturn in your sign will keep things real, refining elements in your make-up that smack of affectation.
Horoscopes: The Week of March 27
Starsky + Cox
March 25, 2011

Historical Examples

There was no affectation in this; but much genuine, innate pride.
The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson, Volumes One and Two
Harriette Wilson

affectation the attempt to work up by our own efforts an enthusiasm for Nature.
Practical Ethics
William DeWitt Hyde

Varney gave his largesse with an affectation of complaisance and humility.
Kenilworth
Sir Walter Scott

Except for purposes of wit or humor, this affectation is not to be tolerated.
Elementary Guide to Literary Criticism
F. V. N. Painter

It was difficult to associate Beth with the idea of prudery or affectation.
The Vagrant Duke
George Gibbs

In time they were succeeded by an affectation of contrite apology and self-depreciation.
Flip: A California Romance
Bret Harte

He is an impressive writer, but his style is vitiated by an affectation of grandeur.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, No. 366
Various

Anagram

taffeta icon
feta faction
A octane shift
Of caftan tie
To face faint
Of titan cafe

Today’s quote

Anger and hate against one we love steels our hearts, but contempt or pity leaves us silent and ashamed.

– Edgar Rice Burroughs

On this day

19 March 1932 – Opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Captain Frank de Groot is arrested when he rides up on his horse and cuts the ribbon before the Premier of New South Wales, Jack Lang, can cut it. Captain de Groot was a member of a right-wing paramilitary group called the New Guard who was politically opposed to the more left-wing Premier Lang. De Groot claimed he was protesting that the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Phillip Game, should have opened the Bridge.

19 March 1950 – death of Edgar Rice Burroughs, American science fiction author: Tarzan, Mars series (on which the 2012 movie ‘John Carter‘ was based). Born 1 September 1875.

19 March 1982 – death of Randy Rhoads, American heavy metal guitarist, played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. Rhoads was on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, heading to Orlando, Florida when their bus broke down near an airstrip at Leesburg, Florida. While some of the band continued sleeping in the van, the driver (an ex-commercial pilot) took one of the light planes for joy-rides with some of the band members. He didn’t have permission for the flights. Randy Rhoads and make-up artist, Rachel Youngblood were on the second flight. The pilot thought it would be funny to buzz the tour bus by flying as close as possible to it. On the third pass, the plane’s wing clipped the bus causing the plane to spiral out of control and for Rhoads and Youngblood’s heads to smash through the plane’s windshield. The plane severed the top of a pine tree before crashing into a garage at a nearby mansion. Rhoads, Youngblood and the pilot (Andrew Aycock) died instantly, all burnt beyond recognition. In 1987, Ozzy Osbourne released a live album in memory of Rhoads, called ‘Tribute’, it featured Osbourne and Rhoad’s work together. Rhoads was born on 6 December 1956.

19 March 2003 – The Second Gulf War commences as the U.S. led ‘Coalition of the Willing’ invade Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

18 March 2017

caravansary

[kar-uh-van-suh-ree]

noun, plural caravansaries.

1. (in the Near East) an inn, usually with a large courtyard, for the overnight accommodation of caravans.
2. any large inn or hotel.

Also, caravanserai [kar-uh-van-suh-rahy, -rey]

Origin of caravansary

French, Persian

1590-1600; < French caravanserai < Persian kārwānsarāy, equivalent to kārwān caravan + sarāy mansion, inn

Related forms

caravanserial [kar-uh-van-seer-ee-uh l] (Show IPA), adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for caravansary

Historical Examples

Serai, se-r′i, n. a khan, a caravansary : a seraglio for women.
Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)
Various

Then he sat in some caravansary, and guarded the candle flame.
Christ Legends
Selma Lagerlf

You must return to the caravansary that guards these treasures.
The Incredible Honeymoon
E. Nesbit

At the caravansary they had scented tragedy, and Kate faced them with the paragraph.
The Precipice
Elia Wilkinson Peattie

The caravansary into which Haschim and his following now turned off stood on a plot of rising ground surrounded by palm-trees.
The Bride of the Nile, Complete
Georg Ebers

They replied with a volley of musketry into the caravansary, and another into the pagoda.
With Clive in India
G. A. Henty

It was dusk when we arrived, and everybody hurried to get a dry place in the caravansary, myself amongst the pushing crowd.
Arminius Vambry, his life and adventures
Arminius Vambry

At the caravansary his squire came running out to hold his stirrup.
Rung Ho!
Talbot Mundy

At the caravansary there had been sharp disapproval of the whole thing.
The Precipice
Elia Wilkinson Peattie

Then suddenly changing the subject, he said: “How is that caravansary of yours in the Cuatro Caminos getting on?”
Froth
Armando Palacio Valds

Word Origin and History for caravansary
n.
alternative spelling of caravanserai.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Anagram

canvas ray

Today’s quote

Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up.

– Mahatma Gandhi

On this day

18 March 1922 – Mahatma Gandhi sentenced to six years imprisonment by an Indian court for civil disobedience against the British Empire, which included boycotting British made goods. He ended up serving two years.

18 March 1965 – Russian cosmonaut, Lt Col Alexei Leonov becomes the first man to walk in space, when he exits his spacecraft for a short ‘walk’, which included a somersault.

17 March 2017

Avestan

[uh-ves-tuh n]

noun

1. an ancient East Iranian language of the Indo-European family, the language of all the Avesta but the Gathas.
Compare Gathic (def 1).
adjective
2. of or relating to the Avesta or its language.

Origin of Avestan

1855-1860; Avest(a) + -an

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for Avestan

Historical Examples

The Avestan Morals are brought out by Mr. Johnson in their original and exceeding purity.
The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 2
Various

The reciprocal help of the deity and the king (19–21) is Avestan, and inconsistent with monotheism.
Solomon and Solomonic Literature
Moncure Daniel Conway

The language of the Avesta can be correctly describedonly as Avestan, for no other literature in the same language exists.
The Worlds Greatest Books, Volume XIII.
Various

Among the Avestan Fragments, attention might finally be called to one which we must be glad has not been lost.
Library Of The World’s Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol 3
Various

Anagram

sane vat
save tan
ant vase

Today’s quote

Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.

– Marcus Aurelius

On this day

17 March – St Patrick’s Day.

17 March 180AD – death of Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor. Born 26 April 121AD.

17 March 1931 – The U.S. state of Nevada legalises gambling, which paves the way for the establishment of Las Vegas as the casino capital of America.

17 March 1966 – a hydrogen bomb is recovered from the floor of the Mediterranean Sea. The bomb had fallen from a U.S. B-52 after it collided with a KC-135 refuelling jet.

16 March 2017

zoetrope

[zoh-ee-trohp]

noun

1. a device for giving an illusion of motion, consisting of a slitted drum that, when whirled, shows a succession of images placed opposite the slits within the drum as one moving image.

Origin of zoetrope

Greek

1865-1870; irregular < Greek zōḗ life + tropḗ turn

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for zoetrope

Contemporary Examples

After Lucy Fisher became head of production for Francis Coppola’s zoetrope Studios, he could barely contain his envy.
Doug Kenney: The Odd Comic Genius Behind ‘Animal House’ and National Lampoon
Robert Sam Anson
February 28, 2014

Historical Examples

My zoetrope thus worked off itself, and piled up Karma for all the village whether anyone happened to be looking at it or not.
Hilda Wade
Grant Allen

Avenues of poplars on both sides of the road chased each other like the figures in a zoetrope.
The Ball and The Cross
G.K. Chesterton

Add gradually ten ounces of piperazine, a pint of Harrogate water and inhale leisurely through a zoetrope.
Punch, 1917.07.04, Vol. 153, Issue No. 1
Various

The zoetrope, or Wheel of Life, which appeared first in 1860, is a modification of the same idea.
The Romance of Modern Invention
Archibald Williams

With the discovery of instantaneous photography, a new application of the principle of the zoetrope was found.
Appletons’ Popular Science Monthly, May 1899
Various

Anagram

poet zero
Peter zoo
ooze pert

Today’s quote

For me writers block is less an issue than “going tharn”, a phrase from the old Watership Down novel to explain what happens to a rabbit when it stops in the middle of the road transfixed by the onrushing headlights of a car.

– John Birmingham, How To Be a Writer

On this day

16 March 1988 – Iraqi forces under the direction of Saddam Hussein, kill thousands of Kurds in Northern Iraq by unleashing a cocktail of gases, including mustard gas, sarin and cyanide.

16 March 1998 – Rwanda commences mass trials relating to the 1994 genocide of approximately 1,000,000 Tutsis and Hutus by Interahamwe militia which had been backed by the Rwandan government.

16 March 2003 – 23 year old, American peace activist, Rachel Corrie, is killed when run over by an Israeli bulldozer which she had tried to stop from demolishing a Palestinian house in Gaza.

15 March 2017

extirpate

[ek-ster-peyt, ik-stur-peyt]

verb (used with object), extirpated, extirpating.

1. to remove or destroy totally; do away with; exterminate.
2. to pull up by or as if by the roots; root up:
to extirpate an unwanted hair.

Origin of extirpate

Latin

1530-1540; < Latin ex (s) tirpātus plucked up by the stem (past participle of ex (s) tirpāre), equivalent to ex- ex-1+ stirp- (stem of stirps) stem + -ātus -ate1

Related forms

extirpation, noun
extirpative, adjective
extirpator, noun
unextirpated, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for extirpate

Historical Examples

After the extirpation of the Indians, the labor of African slaves was introduced.
Continental Monthly, Volume 5, Issue 4
Various

He then and there determined to devote his life to the extirpation of heresy.
An Introduction to the History of Western Europe
James Harvey Robinson

It makes it the religious duty of Christians to legislate for the extirpation of the former and the punishment of the latter.
Handbook of Freethought
Various

extirpation has been the watchword with which Caucasian Christianity has gone about the world.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King

This wary politician was too sagacious to propose what he had at heart—the extirpation of the hierarchy!
Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 (of 3)
Isaac Disraeli

Hundreds of the ablest judges were selected for the extirpation of this crime.
The Necessity of Atheism
Dr. D.M. Brooks

In our own neighbourhood, if the war and extirpation goes on, he will soon be a memory only.
Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood
J. Conway Walter

But the extirpation was not so thorough as at first appeared.
The Gist of Japan
R. B. Peery

What prolific sources of disease are not those mineral and vegetable poisons, that have been introduced for its extirpation !
Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned by Medical Men, and by Experience in All Ages
William Andrus Alcott

Hundt did not stand alone in his advocacy of the extirpation of the Jews.
History of the Jews, Vol. V (of 6)
Heinrich Graetz

Anagram

trite apex
I reap text
Pi are text
Taxi Peter

Today’s quote

Never deny the babies their Christmas! It is the shining seal set upon, a year of happiness. Let them believe in Santa Claus, or St. Nicholas; or Kriss Kringle, or whatever name the jolly Dutch saint bears in your religion.

– Mary Virginia Terhune

On this day

15 March 44BC – Roman dictator and self-declared Emperor of Rome, Julius Caesar, stabbed to death on the Ides of March by Marcus Junus Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus and other Roman senators. Julius Caesar’s assassination was one of the events that marked the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.

15 March 270 – birth of St Nikolaos of Myra. Greek bishop of Myra (in what is now Turkey). He would often secretly leave gifts for people. The most famous story of his gift-giving related to a father who couldn’t afford the dowry for his three daughters, which would mean they’d remain unmarried. Legend has it that St Nikolaos secretly threw three bags of gold coins through the window one night so that there would be enough dowry for each. He became the model on which Santa Claus was based. Died 6 December 343.

15 March 1892 – founding of the English football club, Liverpool F.C.

15 March 1916 – President Woodrow Wilson sends thousands of troops into Mexico to capture the Mexican revolutionary, Pancho Villa.

15 March 1985 – the first internet domain name is registered, Symbolics.com.

15 March 1990 – Mikael Gorbachev elected as first president of the Soviet Union and held the office until 25 December 1991. He was the only person to occupy the office. He resigned as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 24 August 1991 following a coup by hard-line members of the CPSU. During the coup, Gorbachev’s Presidency was briefly usurped from 19 August to 21 August 1991 by the Vice-President, Gennady Yanayev. On 8 December 1991, in a legally questionable move, the Soviet Union was dissolved with the agreement of Boris Yeltsin, Leonid Kravchuk and Stanislav Shushkevich, respective leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, creating the Commonwealth of Independent States (or Russian Commonwealth), whose leaders governed their own states.

14 March 2017

abrade

[uh-breyd]

verb (used with or without object), abraded, abrading.

1. to wear off or down by scraping or rubbing.
2. to scrape off.

Origin of abrade

Latin

1670-1680; < Latin abrādere, equivalent to ab- ab- + rādere to scrape

Related forms

abradable, adjective
abrader, noun
unabraded, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for abrade

Historical Examples

Genuine amber, when rubbed together, emits a very fragrant odour similar to a fresh lemon, and does not abrade the surface.
Notes and Queries, Number 188, June 4, 1853
Various

This is specially the case with Chaffinches and Bramblings: Greenfinches abrade later.
Among the Birds in Northern Shires
Charles Dixon

In all cases, however, a hard file will abrade the surface of the false stone.
The Chemistry, Properties and Tests of Precious Stones
John Mastin

Wherever they find calcareous strata to abrade, the water is almost milklike in hue for miles around.
Wonderland; or Alaska and the Inside Passage
Lieut. Frederick Schwatka

Anagram

a bread
dab era
bad ear
be a rad

Today’s quote

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

– Karl Marx

On this day

14 March – Pi Day – the date being 3/14 and of course, pi being 3.14.

14 March 1883. – death of Karl Marx, German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist and revolutionary socialist. One of the most influential economists in history. Marx’s work included Das Kapital, as well as The Communist Manifesto which he co-authored with German social scientist, Friedrich Engels. He fathered modern communism and socialism with the aim of putting the means of production in the hands of the workers to end exploitation at the hands of the bourgeoisie. He believed in the redistribution of wealth for the benefit of all, rather than accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few. The wealth, he believed, was created by the workers and should therefore be shared amongst the workers. He stated that communism would not succeed in the individual nation unless other nations supported it, hence the adoption of L’internationale as the socialist anthem following the ‘First International’ conference held by Marx and Engels in 1864. His international theory perhaps makes him the world’s first globalisationist. He believed socialism would not succeed in poverty, but required the building of wealth to succeed and distribution of wealth to be sustainable. Born 5 May 1818.

14 March 1879 – birth of Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the theory of relativity and of course his mass-energy equivalence formula, E=mc2 (energy = mass x speed of light squared). Died 18 April 1955.

14 March 1939 – the independent republic of Czechoslovakia is dissolved, enabling occupation by Nazi forces following the 1938 Munich Act. Czechoslovakia had been created in 1918.

14 March 1983 – Reggae legend, Peter Tosh, plays the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, Australia, as part of the annual Moomba festival.

13 March 2017

derring-do

[der-ing-doo]

noun

1. daring deeds; heroic daring.

Origin of derring-do

Middle English

1325-1375; Middle English durring-do literally, daring to do, erroneously taken as noun phrase. See dare, do(1)

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for derring-do

Contemporary Examples

The research describes the derring-do of a team of scientists working at University of East Anglia.
The Fake Superbug Cure
Kent Sepkowitz
June 20, 2014

Having yourself immortalized with a paunch indicated you were wealthy/held high office/were involved in derring-do.
The Return of the Power Paunch
Sean Macaulay
April 30, 2013

She fell in love with Colonel Charles Doughty-Wylie, a soldier with a record of derring-do with appropriate movie star looks.
Gertrude of Arabia, the Woman Who Invented Iraq
Clive Irving
June 16, 2014

Anagram

odd ringer
nor ridged
drone grid

Today’s quote

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

– William James

On this day

13 March 1929 – The Butler Act is passed, making it illegal to teach the theory of evolution in schools in Tennessee. The Act was repealed in 1967.

13 March 1969 – Disney releases the hit movie, The Love Bug, based on a Volkswagen Beetle with a life of its own.

13 March 1979 – a left-wing military coup in Grenada overthrows Prime Minister, Sir Eric Gairy. His leadership was controversial with allegations of illegitimately winning the election, rigging a Miss World contest and calling for the United Nations to establish a committee to investigate UFOs and extraterrestrial life.

13 March 1996 – Sixteen children at the Dunblane Primary School in Scotland are shot dead by former boy scout leader, Thomas Hamilton. The massacre resulted in stricter gun laws in the United Kingdom.

11 March 2017

paralogize

[puh-ral-uh-jahyz]

verb (used without object), paralogized, paralogizing.

1. to draw conclusions that do not follow logically from a given set of assumptions.

Also, especially British, paralogise.

Origin of paralogize

Medieval Latin, Greek

1590-1600; < Medieval Latin paralogizāre < Greek paralogízesthai to reason falsely, equivalent to parálog (os) (see para-1, logos ) + -izesthai -ize

Dictionary.com

Anagram

a zip galore
I plaza goer

Today’s quote

The impossible often has a kind of integrity which the merely improbable lacks.

– Douglas Adams

On this day

11 March 1845 – death of Johnny Appleseed, American environmentalist. The exact date of Appleseed’s death is in dispute, with some sources claiming 18 March 1845 and others as ‘Summer 1845’. 11 March is celebrated in the USA as ‘Johnny Appleseed Day’. He was born as John Chapman and was a nurseryman who introduced significant numbers of apple trees to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and Illinois. His legend grew while he was still alive because of his generous nature, care for animals and the environment, and respect he had for the American Indian tribes who believed he’d been touched by the ‘Great Spirit’ because of his love and admiration for them and the gospel message he preached. Born 26 September 1774.

11 March 1952 – birth of Douglas Adams, British author most famous for his Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, a comical science fiction trilogy in five parts. Also wrote Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul and co-wrote, The Meaning of Liff, The Deeper Meaning of Liff and Last Chance to See. Adams also wrote three episodes of Dr Who. Adams campaigned for conservation and the environment. Died 11 May 2001.

11 March 2003 – The United States renames the humble ‘french fries’ to ‘freedom fries’ in response to the French President, Jacques Chirac, condemning the U.S. actions in Iraq.

11 March 2004 – Madrid bombings in which 191 people are killed and 1800 injured. Basque Separatists were blamed for the bombing, although did not claim responsibility. Al Qaeda-linked terrorists were also suspected of the attacks as they occurred exactly 911 days after the 9/11 attacks in the USA. In 2007, 28 suspected terrorists with links to Al Qaeda were charged. On 31 October 2007, the Spanish National Court found 21 of the defendants guilty on charges ranging from forgery to murder. Most were sentenced to 23 years or less, however, three of the accused were sentenced to 42,924 years in prison.

11 March 2007 – an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter Scale strikes off the coast of Japan, triggering a tsunami that kills thousands of people and causes the Fukushima nuclear disaster, in which three of the six nuclear reactors melted down, releasing significant amounts of radiation. It was the world’s second largest nuclear disaster, surpassed only by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.