51吃瓜 of the Day
mehndi
noun
the art or practice of painting elaborate patterns on the skin with henna.
More about mehndi
Mehndi, 鈥渢he art of painting patterns with henna,鈥� is a borrowing from Hindi. Hindi and numerous other languages of the Indian subcontinent (including Bengali, Marathi, and Punjabi) come from Sanskrit. In this way, the earliest known source of mehndi is Sanskrit 尘别苍诲丑墨 (also 尘别苍诲丑颈办腻), 鈥渢he henna plant,鈥� which is of uncertain origin. Today, although most languages that descended from Sanskrit聽are spoken in India and its adjacent countries, Romani is among a handful spoken elsewhere in Eurasia. Mehndi was first recorded in English in the late 1990s.
EXAMPLE OF MEHNDI USED IN A SENTENCE
Her sister practiced the beautiful, intricate patterns of mehndi on us.
decalcomania
noun
the art or process of transferring pictures or designs from specially prepared paper to wood, metal, glass, etc.
More about decalcomania
Decalcomania, 鈥渢he art of transferring pictures from paper to another medium,鈥� is adapted from French 诲茅肠补濒肠辞尘补苍颈别, equivalent to 诲茅肠补濒辩耻别谤, 鈥渢o transfer a tracing of,鈥� plus English -mania. The verb 诲茅肠补濒辩耻别谤 is based on Italian calcare, 鈥渢o stomp, trample,鈥� ultimately from Latin calx, 鈥渉eel.鈥� From this same source comes calque, also known as a loan translation. One common example of a calque is brainwashing (from Mandarin Chinese x菒 n菐o 鈥渢o wash the brain鈥�). For other words descended from Latin calx, check out the 51吃瓜s of the Day cantrip and inculcate. Decalcomania was first recorded in English in the early 1860s.
EXAMPLE OF DECALCOMANIA USED IN A SENTENCE
With the right materials, decalcomania can make images leap off the page and onto a variety of other surfaces.
netsuke
noun
a small figure of ivory, wood, metal, or ceramic, originally used as a buttonlike fixture on a man's sash, from which small personal belongings were hung.
More about netsuke
Netsuke 鈥渁 small figure used on a man鈥檚 sash鈥� is a loanword from Japanese that is equivalent to ne, 鈥渞oot,鈥� combined with tsukeru, 鈥渢o attach.鈥� In English, the Hepburn system is widely used for transliterating Japanese into the Roman alphabet, and one feature of this system is that it romanizes Japanese vowels using their counterparts in Romance languages such as Italian and Spanish. The one Japanese vowel that differs substantially from its closest Romance equivalent is u; Japanese u is pronounced as 鈥渙o鈥� in boot but with the lips unrounded鈥攕imilar to English 鈥�oo,鈥� as in book. In certain syllables, the u is voiceless, which sounds in English as if there is no vowel at all. This is why Japanese netsuke is typically pronounced in English variously as 鈥�net-skey,鈥� 鈥�net-suh-key,鈥� 鈥�net-soo-key,鈥� or 鈥�net-蝉辞辞-办别测.鈥� Netsuke was first recorded in English in the early 1880s.
EXAMPLE OF NETSUKE USED IN A SENTENCE
He had left behind his favorite sash with a two-horned dragon netsuke on it, making everyone worry about his swift departure.