51吃瓜 of the Day
More about repast
Repast 鈥渕eal鈥� derives via Middle English from the Old French verb repaistre 鈥渢o eat a meal鈥� (compare Modern French 谤别辫补卯迟谤别 鈥渢o feed, to eat鈥�), which ultimately comes from the Latin prefix re- 鈥渁gain, regularly鈥� and the verb 辫腻蝉肠别谤别 鈥渢o feed.鈥� 笔腻蝉肠别谤别, the past participle stem of which is 辫腻蝉迟-, is the source of numerous food- and livestock-related terms in English, such as antipasto and pasture. Despite the similar spelling, the words past and pasta are not derivatives of 辫腻蝉肠别谤别. Past was originally a variant of passed, the past participle of pass, a verb that comes from the Latin noun passus 鈥渟tep,鈥� while pasta is an Italian borrowing from Ancient Greek 辫补蝉迟谩 鈥渂arley porridge.鈥� Repast was first recorded in English in the early 1300s.
how is repast used?
One of the greatest aspects of the traditional Thanksgiving feast is the near-boundless array of food at the table. That also makes it perhaps the [year鈥檚] toughest repast for wine pairing. Or not, if we extend the bounty of the food to the wine options .鈥� [I]t makes sense to make them part of the meal and give guests a chance to try different wines with different dishes, or to hoard a bit of one wine for their favorite part of the meal.
Consider for a moment, the Thanksgiving meal itself. It has become a sort of refuge for endangered species of starch: sweet potatoes, cauliflower, pumpkin, mince (whatever 鈥渕ince鈥� is), those blessed yams …. And then the sacred turkey. One might as well try to construct a holiday repast around a fish鈥攕ay, a nice piece of boiled haddock. After all, turkey tastes very similar to haddock: same consistency, same quite remarkable absence of flavor.
repast
hominid
noun
any member of the family Hominidae, consisting of all modern and extinct humans and great apes, and all their immediate ancestors.
More about hominid
Hominid 鈥渁 member of the family consisting of humans and great apes鈥� is adapted from New Latin Hominidae, the name for this family, from Latin 丑辞尘艒 (stem homin-) 鈥渕an, human being.鈥� As we learned with recent 51吃瓜 of the Day chernozem, 丑辞尘玫 derives from the Proto-Indo-European root dhghem- 鈥渆arth,鈥� which is the source of person-related terms such as Latin 丑奴尘腻苍耻蝉 (compare human) and Old English guma 鈥渕an鈥� (compare bridegroom) as well as land-related words such as Latin humus 鈥渆arth,鈥� Ancient Greek 办丑迟丑艒苍 鈥渆arth鈥� (compare chthonian), and Ancient Greek 肠丑补尘补铆 鈥渙n the ground鈥� (compare chameleon, literally 鈥済round lion鈥�). Hominid was first recorded in English in the late 1880s.
how is hominid used?
We know [the Denisovans] were a distinct ancestral species;鈥hey participated in one (or many) of the waves of migration out-of-Africa鈥hen Neanderthals began their migration, and 60,000 years ago when modern humans followed. And we know these groups did not keep to themselves: Denisovan DNA can be found in living humans from Asia (less than 1%) and Melanesia (up to 6%) 鈥�. How these different groups of hominids interacted remains something that is less understood.
One and a half billion years ago, the planet鈥檚 only life-forms were single-celled. Fermentation ruled the earth. Then an anaerobic bacterium engulfed an aerobic bacterium …. This accidental collaboration made possible the proliferation of multicellular life-forms and, eventually, tool-wielding hominids who would come to complain that they feel tired all the time.
hominid
More about asterism
Asterism 鈥渁 group of stars鈥� derives from Ancient Greek 补蝉迟别谤颈蝉尘贸蝉 鈥渁 marking with stars,鈥� from 补蝉迟岣梤 鈥渟迟补谤.鈥� 础蝉迟岣梤 comes from the Proto-Indo-European root ster-, of the same meaning, which is also the source of English star and Latin stella. For the latter, compare constellation 鈥渁ny of various groups of stars to which definite names have been given,鈥� which is often conflated with asterism, but the two share a slight distinction. An asterism is a group of stars, while a constellation is the named shape that multiple asterisms form. For example, the Big Dipper is an asterism comprising seven stars, but Ursa Major is the constellation that contains the Big Dipper as well as several other asterisms. Asterism was first recorded in English in the 1590s.
how is asterism used?
In a sky so full of stars it鈥檚 often difficult to figure out where constellations are, one dark spot stands out: The Coalsack Nebula. Parked near one of the five brightest stars comprising the Southern Cross鈥攑erhaps the most easily spotted asterism in the southern sky鈥攖he nebula looks like an inky black thumbprint. Where it hangs, the stars struggle to shine. It鈥檚 as if someone outlined a portion of the sky and dimmed the lights.
Examples of confusing and misleading scientific terms abound. When astronomers say 鈥渕etals,鈥� they mean any element heavier than helium, which includes oxygen and nitrogen, a usage that is massively confusing not just to laypeople but also to chemists. The Big Dipper isn’t a constellation to them; it is an 鈥�asterism.鈥�
asterism