51吃瓜 of the Day
virtuoso
noun
a person who excels in musical technique or execution.
More about virtuoso
We might refer to a gifted violinist, for instance, as a virtuoso. First recorded in English in the early 1600s with a now-obsolete sense of 鈥渓earned person,鈥� virtuoso is borrowed from Italian virtuoso 鈥渁 person with exceptional skill in the arts or sciences,鈥� in Italian used especially of musicians by the latter part of the 1500s. Italian virtuoso is a noun form of the adjective virtuoso 鈥渟killed, virtuous.鈥� English virtuous (via Anglo-French) and virtuoso are indeed related. Both ultimately derive from Late Latin 惫颈谤迟耻艒蝉耻蝉, which joins the Latin adjective-forming suffix –艒蝉耻蝉 鈥渇ull of鈥� with Latin 惫颈谤迟奴蝉 (inflectional stem 惫颈谤迟奴迟-). Latin 惫颈谤迟奴蝉 means 鈥渕anliness, strength, courage.鈥� Apparently due to associations with honor and bravery (as of soldiers), the meaning of Latin聽惫颈谤迟奴蝉 was extended to 鈥渕oral excellence,鈥� hence English virtue. The root of 惫颈谤迟奴蝉 is vir 鈥渕an,鈥� which yields virile聽“manly” and virago, which evolved from 鈥渉eroic woman, female warrior鈥� to the unsavory “scolding woman, shrew.” The Proto-Indo-European root聽wi-ro-, the source of Latin vir, resulted in Old English wer 鈥渕an,鈥� which survives in werewolf, literally 鈥渕an-wolf,鈥� a virtuosic vocalist, perhaps, in its own howling way.
how is virtuoso used?
What was it like to be the first pop virtuoso of the recorded era鈥攖he man whose earliest releases set the tune for America鈥檚 love affair with modern black music, and who went on to become one of history鈥檚 most famous entertainers?
… he is a literary virtuoso who understands the charisma needed to make songs you can play in a club.
bastion
noun
anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc.: a bastion of solitude.
More about bastion
The English noun bastion still looks French. It comes from Middle French, from Upper Italian bastione 鈥渞ampart, bulwark, bastion,鈥� an augmentative noun formed from bastita 鈥渇ortified,鈥� from the verb bastire 鈥渢o build,鈥� from Medieval Latin 产补蝉迟墨谤别, possibly of Germanic origin and akin to bastille 鈥渢ower, small fortress, bastion.鈥� Bastion entered English in the late 16th century.
how is bastion used?
… Notre Dame went from being a football school to being not just academically respected but a bastion of intellectual freedom and ideological pluralism ….
… he’d seen it as a bastion of the familiar and orderly, where negotiations took place the way they were supposed to, in high-backed chairs, with checkbooks and contracts and balance sheets.
appellative
noun
a descriptive name or designation, as Bald in Charles the Bald.
More about appellative
Appellative comes from the Late Latin grammatical term 补辫辫别濒濒腻迟墨惫耻蝉 鈥減ertaining to a common noun鈥� and 苍艒尘别苍 补辫辫别濒濒腻迟墨惫耻尘 “a common noun” (in contrast to 苍艒尘别苍 proprium 鈥渁 proper noun鈥�). 础辫辫别濒濒腻迟墨惫耻蝉 is a derivative of the verb 补辫辫别濒濒腻谤别 鈥渢o speak to, address, call upon, invoke.鈥� Appellative in the sense 鈥渄escriptive name,” as Great in Alfred the Great, is a development in English dating from the first half of the 17th century. Appellative in its original Latin sense entered English in the early 16th century.
how is appellative used?
In connection with this appellative of “Whalebone whales,” it is of great importance to mention, that however such a nomenclature may be convenient in facilitating allusions to some kind of whales, yet it is in vain to attempt a clear classification of the leviathan …
In addition too to this almost Cimmerian gloom was the agr茅ment of a penetrating rain, known perhaps to some of my readers by the gentle appellative of a Scotch mist …