7 September 2013

nuance

[noo-ahns, nyoo-, noo-ahns, nyoo-; French ny-ahns]

noun, plural nu·anc·es [noo-ahn-siz, nyoo-, noo-ahn-siz, nyoo-; French ny-ahns] Show IPA .
1. a subtle difference or distinction in expression, meaning, response, etc.
2. a very slight difference or variation in color or tone.
Origin:
1775–85; < French: shade, hue, equivalent to nu ( er ) to shade (literally, to cloud < Vulgar Latin *nūbāre, derivative of *nūba, for Latin nūbēs cloud) + -ance -ance

Related forms
nu·anced, adjective
un·nu·anced, adjective

Synonyms
1. subtlety, nicety, hint, refinement.

Today’s aphorism

I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.

– Oscar Wilde

On this day

7 September 1876 – birth of C.J. Dennis, Australian poet (Songs of a Sentimental Bloke). Died 22 June 1938.

7 September 1978 – death of Keith Moon, British musician, drummer for ‘The Who’.