22 December 2015

ventripotent

[ven-trip-oh-tuhnt]

Adjective

(comparative more ventripotent, superlative most ventripotent)

1. Having a big belly.

Examples

1694, Thomas Urquhart, translating François Rabelais, Pantagruel, Book LIX, (chapter title):
Of the ridiculous statue Manduce; and how, and what the Gastrolaters sacrifice to their ventripotent god.

1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 714:
The reception committee consisted of Constance and a ventripotent Swiss banker, representing the Red Cross […].

2. Gluttonous.

2008, A. C. Kemp, The Perfect Insult for Every Occasion, ISBN 978-1-59869-327-0, page 198:
I’m sure your being so ventripotent is useful in county fair competitions, George, but it’s driving our bakery into the ground, so we’re replacing you.

Anagram

invent potter
penitent or TV

Today’s quote

When it comes to money, everyone is of the same religion.

– Voltaire

On this day

22 December 1880 – death of Mary Ann Evans. One of England’s greatest novelists, she published under the name ‘George Eliot’ in order to be taken seriously. Some of her novels include ‘Adam Bede’, ‘Mill on the Floss’, ‘Silas Marner’, and ‘Daniel Deronda’. Her novel, ‘Middlemarch’, was described as the greatest novel in the English language. Born 22 November 1819.

22 December 1936 – Italy sends thousands of troops to Spain to support the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War who were opposed to the democratically elected left-wing ‘Popular Front’ government which comprised of Trotskyists, communists and other left-wing groups.

22 December 1949 – birth of Maurice Gibb on the Isle of Man. Founded the Bee Gees with his brothers, Robin and Barry. Died 12 January 2003 in Miami, Florida.

22 December 1989 – The Brandenburg Gate opens for the first time in almost 30 years, allowing access between East and West Germany.