30 July 2018
verdure
[vur-jer]
noun
1. greenness, especially of fresh, flourishing vegetation.
2. green vegetation, especially grass or herbage.
3. freshness in general; flourishing condition; vigor.
Origin of verdure
Middle English
1250-1300; Middle English < Middle French, equivalent to verd green (see vert ) + -ure -ure
Related forms
verdured, adjective
verdureless, adjective
unverdured, adjective
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for verdure
Historical Examples
But with me, the verdure and the flowers are not frostbitten in the midst of winter.
The Village Uncle (From “Twice Told Tales”)
Nathaniel Hawthorne
It seemed to the young couple as if they were being rocked on a sea of verdure.
The Fortune of the Rougons
Emile Zola
All around were lofty mountains covered with verdure and glory.
The Elm Tree Tales
F. Irene Burge Smith
Anagram
rude rev
Today’s quote
Ninety-nine in a hundred of what are called educated men. . . have never thrown themselves into the mental position of those who think differently from them, and considered what such persons may have to say, and consequently they do not, in any proper sense of the word, know the doctrine which they themselves profess.
– John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
On this day
30 July 1626 – earthquake in Naples, Italy, kills 70,000 people.
30 July 1818 – birthday of Emily Bronte, author of the novel, ‘Wuthering Heights‘. Died 19 December 1848.
30 July 1863 – birthday of Henry Ford, American industrialist and car maker. Died 7 April 1947.
30 July 1881 – birth of Smedley Butler, U.S. Marine Corp Major-General. He received 19 medals, five of which were for bravery. He twice received the Medal of Honor. Butler was, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in history. Nonetheless, he was an outspoken critic of war and military actions. He wrote a book called ‘War is a Racket’, which exposed the links between the military and industry, in which he stated that business interests directly benefit from warfare. Butler wrote a summary of the book, which stated: ‘War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small ‘inside’ group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes‘. He died on 21 June 1940.
30 July 1898 – W.K. Kellogg invents cornflakes.
30 July 1956 – the United States officially adopts ‘In God We Trust’ as the national motto.
30 July 1958 – birthday of Kate Bush, English singer/songwriter. In 1978, she had a hit song with ‘Wuthering Heights‘, a song about the novel of the same name which was written by Emily Bronte (whose birthday is also today). She followed this up with a number of other hits, including ‘Babooshka‘ and ‘The Man with the Child in His Eyes‘.
30 July 1969 – birthday of Simon Baker, Australian actor. Stars in the TV series, ‘The Mentalist‘.