Saturday, February 2, 2013

filch

filch \filch\, verb:
To steal (especially something of small value); pilfer: to filch ashtrays from fancy restaurants.

pseudepigraph

pseudepigraphy \soo-duh-PIG-ruh-fee\, noun:
The false ascription of a piece of writing to an author.

vertex

vertex \VUR-teks\, noun:
1. The highest point of something; apex; summit; top: the vertex of a mountain.
2. Anatomy, Zoology. The crown or top of the head.
3. Craniometry. The highest point on the midsagittal plane of the skull or head viewed from the left side when the skull or head is in the Frankfurt horizontal.
4. Astronomy. A point in the celestial sphere toward which or from which the common motion of a group of stars is directed.
5. Geometry. A. The point farthest from the base: the vertex of a cone or of a pyramid. B. A point in a geometrical solid common to three or more sides. C. The intersection of two sides of a plane figure.

eurhythmic

eurhythmic \yoo-RITH-mik\, adjective:
1. Characterized by a pleasing rhythm; harmoniously ordered or proportioned.
2. Of or pertaining to eurhythmics.
They were eurhythmic athletes, proud as archers, discus or javelin throwers embraced

also-ran

also-ran \AWL-soh-ran\, noun:
1. Informal. A person who loses a contest, election, or other competition.
2. Sports. A. (In a race) a contestant who fails to win or to place among the first three finishers. B. An athlete or team whose performance in competition is rarely, if ever, a winning or near-winning one.
3. Informal. A person who attains little or no success: For every great artist there are a thousand also-rans.

boustrophedon

boustrophedon \boo-struh-FEED-n\, noun:
an ancient method of writing in which the lines run alternately from right to left and from left to right.
This, they call the boustrophedon form because it mimics the back-and-forth pacing of an ox tied to a tether.
-- Chuck Palahniuk, Lullaby

Saturday, March 31, 2012

adroit

adroit \uh-DROIT\, adjective:

1. Cleverly skillful, resourceful, or ingenious.
2. Expert or nimble in the use of the hands or body.

He knows that Jory is handsome, talented, and most of all, adroit. Bart is not adroit at anything but pretending.
-- V.C. Andrews, If There Be Thorns

It requires finesse. She was very adroit — oh, very adroit — but Hercule Poirot, my good George, is of a cleverness quite exceptional.
-- Agatha Christie, The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding

Adroit is from the Old French meaning "elegant, skillful" from the roots a- meaning "increase" and droit meaning "correct."