51吃瓜 of the Day
quorum
noun
the number of members of a group or organization required to be present to transact business legally, usually a majority.
More about quorum
Quorum comes from Latin 辩耻艒谤耻尘 “of whom.” (To get into the grammatical weeds, 辩耻艒谤耻尘 is the masculine genitive plural of the relative and interrogative pronoun and adjective 辩耻墨, quae, quod 鈥渨ho, which, what.鈥�) In medieval England, the Latin formula for commissioning justices of the peace would mention certain prominent local persons in general, known for their learning, experience, and prudence, and then specify one or more such persons as definitely to be included: Qu艒rum 奴num N esse volumus 鈥淥f whom we want N to be one.鈥� Such commissioned justices were necessary to constitute a bench and were known as justices of the quorum. The current sense, 鈥渢he number of members of a group or organization required to be present to transact business legally, usually a majority,鈥� dates from the early 17th century. Quorum entered English in the first half of the 15th century.
how is quorum used?
… new members can only be approved by a twelve-member quorum, and the shrunken Academy now has ten active members instead of its usual eighteen: a Catch-22 if there ever was one.
Along with two pre-existing vacancies, this will shrink what should be a six-member board to three members鈥攐ne short of the quorum required to hold meetings and perform many basic functions.
beacon
noun
a person or thing that illuminates or inspires: The Bible has been our beacon during this trouble.
More about beacon
Beacon comes from Old English 产脓补肠别苍, 产脓肠别苍, 产脓肠苍 鈥渁 sign, portent; a standard, banner; a signal, signal fire, signal hill or tower, watchtower; lighthouse.鈥� (Most of these senses appear in Beowulf.) 叠脓补肠别苍 comes from Germanic baukna– 鈥渂eacon, signal,鈥� the source of Old Frisian 产腻办别苍, Old Saxon 产艒办补苍, Old High German bouhhan. The derivative Germanic verb bauknjan 鈥渢o make a sign, signal鈥� becomes 产脓肠苍an in Old English and beckon in English.
how is beacon used?
As is often the case with those who die young, Martin Luther King Jr. has become more symbol than man: pacifist, beacon of nonviolent racial reform.
At first sight we had not rated the American town favorably, but now it seemed聽a beacon of civilization.
More about langlauf
Langlauf, 鈥渃ross-country skiing, cross-country skiing race,鈥� is a German compound noun formed from the adjective lang, cognate with English long, and the noun Lauf 鈥渞un,鈥� related to English leap (from the Old English noun 丑濒测虅辫) and lope. Langlauf entered English in the 1920s.
how is langlauf used?
“Haven’t you got a boat that’ll cut through the ice?” … “It’s too thick to get through. Langlauf is the easiest way by far.”
Pontresina, a picture-book village tucked just around the mountain from imperious St. Moritz, turns out to be one of the best places in the world to do cross-country skiing鈥攐r langlauf as it鈥檚 known.