51吃瓜 of the Day
deipnosophist
noun
a person who is an adept conversationalist at a meal.
More about deipnosophist
No dinner party is complete without a deipnosophist 鈥渁 person who is an adept conversationalist at a meal.鈥� This is the type of person who, at least as dictionary editors hope, regales fellow feasters with the origin of such an intriguing word as deipnosophist. Deipnosophist is based on 顿别颈辫苍辞蝉辞辫丑颈蝉迟补铆, the title of a literary work by Athenaeus, a Greek philosopher and rhetorician writing in Naucratis, Egypt, in the late 200s a.d. 顿别颈辫苍辞蝉辞辫丑颈蝉迟补铆 is the plural of 诲别颈辫苍辞蝉辞辫丑颈蝉迟岣梥, literally 鈥渁n expert in the affairs of the kitchen,鈥� and the work features a banquet where learned men discuss food and a wide range of other topics. 顿别颈辫苍辞蝉辞辫丑颈蝉迟岣梥 is formed on Greek 诲别卯辫苍辞苍 鈥渕eal, dinner鈥� and 蝉辞辫丑颈蝉迟岣梥 鈥渆xpert, wise person.鈥� 厂辞辫丑颈蝉迟岣梥 is the source of English sophist, which historically refers to a type of professional teacher in ancient Greece and later, a person who argues cleverly but speciously. 厂辞辫丑颈蝉迟岣梥 is related to Greek 蝉辞辫丑铆补 鈥渟kill, wisdom,鈥� source of the –sophy in philosophy. Deipnosophist is recorded in English by the 1600s.
how is deipnosophist used?
Mr. MacPherson, a self-described 鈥�deipnosophist鈥� (a fancy word for an adept dinner conversationalist), said the hearth is a good place to start for putting guests at ease.
Its author, one Upton Uxbridge Underwood (1881鈥�1937), was a deipnosophist, clubman, and literary miscellanist with a special interest in tonsorial subjects.
tintinnabulation
noun
the ringing or sound of bells.
More about tintinnabulation
Tintinnabulation is a fittingly tuneful term meaning 鈥渢he ringing or sound of bells.鈥� This noun was notably sounded by Edgar Allan Poe in his 1849 poem 鈥淭he Bells鈥�: 鈥淜eeping time 鈥� / To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells / From the bells, bells, bells, bells 鈥︹�� English tintinnabulation is formed on Latin 迟颈苍迟颈苍苍腻产耻濒耻尘 鈥渂别濒濒.鈥� 罢颈苍迟颈苍苍腻产耻濒耻尘 is composed of –bulum, a suffix that indicates agency, and 迟颈苍迟颈苍苍腻谤别 鈥渢o ring,鈥� a verb that apparently imitates the sound of jingling bells. And, if you can鈥檛 get rid of that ringing in your ears? You may have what medicine calls tinnitus 鈥渁 ringing or similar sensation of sound in the ears.鈥� Tinnitus is ultimately from a Latin verb related to 迟颈苍迟颈苍苍腻谤别: 迟颈苍苍墨谤别 鈥渢o ring, tinkle.鈥� Tintinnabulation entered English in the early 1800s.
how is tintinnabulation used?
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells / From the bells, bells, bells, bells / bells, bells, bells鈥� / From the jingling and tinkling of the bells.
I walked as fast as possible on one shoe toward the far-off tintinnabulation of the bells.
welter
noun
a confused mass; a jumble or muddle: a welter of anxious faces.
More about welter
The noun welter 鈥渃onfused mass; a jumble or muddle鈥� develops from the verb welter 鈥渢o roll, toss; writhe, tumble about.鈥� Found in English by the 1300s, the verb welter is a form of Middle English welten, Old English weltan 鈥渢o roll,鈥� cognate with Middle Dutch welteren and Low German weltern 鈥渢o roll.鈥� The specific form welter is known as a frequentative, which is a verb that expresses repetitive action, indicated by the suffix –er, as seen in such other verbs as flicker or shudder. Welter, then, has the meaning of rolling over again and again, as waves heaving in the sea or pigs wallowing in the mud, which gave rise to its noun senses, such as 鈥渃onfused mass.鈥� The noun welter is first recorded in English in the late 1500s.
how is welter used?
What traitors books can be! … Others can use them, too, and there you are, lost in the middle of the moor, in a great welter of nouns and verbs and adjectives.