Definition of the day.

Talliesin

Oops! I forgot to post definitions for the week-end. Sorry.

Talliesin

2003-06-03
Murage
A tax levied for the maintenance of a city's walls.

Talliesin

2003-06-04
Runcible
1. Adjective; when applied to the word "spoon" indicates a spoon which has tines so it can be used as a fork. Such spoon/forks are also called "sporks" and sometimes have a cutting edge so they can be used as a knive as well. 2. Noun; a runcible spoon.

The word was first used to descibe a spoon in Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat, however the definition above was applied some 50 years afterwards and is most likely not the definition Lear intended, if indeed he intended it to have any definition (he used the word in other contexts in other nonsense poems). Other theories as to what Lear intended the word to mean abound, but the definition above is the one that has stuck.

Talliesin

2003-06-05
Gabelle
1. A tax, especially one levied on salt. 2. In particular such a tax levied in France from 1286 until 1790.

The word is generally written with a capital G for the second definition.

Talliesin

2003-06-06
Dumbledore
1. A bumblebee 2. A large beetle.

Talliesin

2003-06-07
Quasquicentennial
A 125th anniversary.

Talliesin

2003-06-08
Katathermometer
A device for measuring the cooling power of air, it takes into account the effect of air movement as well as air temperature.

Talliesin

2003-06-09
Calends
The first day of a month in the ancient Roman calendar.

Talliesin

2003-06-10
Waqf
An endowment of property to a mosque or Islamic religious institution.

Talliesin

2003-06-11
Vesica Piscis
A pointed oval shape formed from the intersection of two identically sized circles, much used in sacred art, for example as an aureole surrounding a Christian figure.

Talliesin

2003-06-12
Fap
Fuddled.

Talliesin

2003-06-16
Mercerise
To treat cotton with sodium hydroxide to increase its strength, luster and affinity to dye.

Talliesin

2003-06-17
Traversed seriatim
Formally denied in series, often used in a legal statement such as "the Defendant denies each and every allegation as if the same were specifically set forth herein and denied and traversed seriatim", to abbreviate that if he or she were asked to plead on each allegation they would deny each one.

Talliesin

2003-06-18
MacGuffin
A plot device that holds no meaning or purpose of its own except to advance the story. E.g. the contents of the briefcase in Pulp Fiction or the identity of the real spy in North by Northwest.
Also spelt McGuffin or maguffin.

Talliesin

2003-06-19
Sagittal
1. Arrow-like, arrow-shaped.
2. Of, relating to, situated in, or being the median plane dissecting the body of a human or animal into a left and right side, or any plane parrallel to that.
3. The suture where the parietal bones in the skull meet.
4. Related to the sagittal suture.

Talliesin

2003-06-20
Falcate
Sickle-shaped.

Talliesin

2003-06-23
Peripeteia
A sudden reversal in fortune, particularly in the plot of a literary work.

Talliesin

2003-06-24
Immolate
1. To sacrifice by killing or destroying. 2. To destroy with fire.

Talliesin

2003-06-25
Vade Mecum
1. A reference book or guide book one carries with one. 2. Any useful thing one carries at all times. 3. (Figuratively) A favourite book that one often has to hand.

Literally it means "come with me".

Talliesin

2003-06-26
Röntgen Ray
X-Ray
Also spelt Roentgen.

Talliesin

2003-06-27
Carfax
A junction where four or more roads meet.

Talliesin

2003-06-30
Pizzicato
1. (Of stringed instruments, especially the violin) Played by plucking with the finger rather than with a bow. 2. A pizzicato note. 3. A direction to play pizzicato.

Talliesin

2003-07-01
Anomia
Inability to recall words, to name objects or to remember names.
Other definitions omitted.

Talliesin

2003-07-02
Gadfly
1. One who persistently or deliberately annoys and agitates. 2. Any of several species of fly that bite livestock.

Talliesin

2003-07-03
Crepuscular
1. Pertaining to twilight, more precisely to the darker half of twilight when the sun has already set, or is yet to rise. 2. Active during twilight hours (said of animals, comparable to "nocturnal"). 3. Pertaining to a twilight state of consciousness.

Talliesin

2003-07-04
Napiform
Turnip shaped.

Talliesin

2003-07-07
Fraktur
1. A style of black letter used in German manuscripts and printing. 2. A Pennsylvania German document written in calligraphy and decorated with motifs.

In each sense, especially the first, it is sometimes treated as a proper noun and capitalised, and sometimes not.

Talliesin

2003-07-08
Mammothrept
A child raised, and spoiled, by his or her grandmother.

Talliesin

2003-07-09
Drapetomania
An overwhelming urge to run away from home.

Gordon

Originally posted by Talliesin
2003-06-23
Peripeteia

The exact word also means "Journey" in Greek btw.

Gordon the Gadfly