Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday

wordyweds

Wondrous Word Wednesday hosted by Kathy of BermudaOnion

Todays words have been taken from ARC of yet to be published The Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill

1) Compendium (Page 20): "So far, this young lady is a compendium of contradictions."

Pronunciation:

\kəm-ˈpen-dē-əm\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural com·pen·di·ums or -dia \-dē-ə\
Etymology:
Medieval Latin, from Latin, saving, shortcut, from compendere to weigh together, from com- + pendere to weigh
1: a brief summary of a larger work or of a field of knowledge : abstract
2 a: a list of a number of items b: collection, compilation

2) Conundrum (Page 50): He decided to focus his mind on the conundrum of why a beautiful young woman had such gnarled feet....

Pronunciation:
\kə-ˈnən-drəm\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
origin unknown
1: a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun
2 a: a question or problem having only a conjectural answer
b
: an intricate and difficult problem

3) Abseiled (Page 179): A tiny delicate green caterpillar abseiled down a fine silk thread and landed on the open page.

Pronunciation:
\ˈab-ˌsāl, -ˌsī(-ə)l\
Function:
intransitive verb
Etymology:
German abseilen, from ab down, off + Seil rope
Date:
1941
chiefly British : rappel
abseil noun

4) Butte (Page245): They arrived on top of the butte.

Pronunciation:
\ˈbyüt\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
French, knoll, from Middle French bute
: an isolated hill or mountain with steep or precipitous sides usually having a smaller summit area than a mesa

Meanings taken from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/

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Cover Attraction hosted by Marcia of The Printed Page


In the Wake of the Boatman

8 comments:

bermudaonion said...

You found some great words! I keep meaning to include the pronunciations as well and keep forgetting. I love the cover of the book, too! Thanks for participating each week!

Mo said...

'Abseiled" is new-to-me, as well...

And, I gotta say, *that* is a gorgeous book cover!

Have a great week...

Lisa notes... said...

Good list. Some are words I've actually looked up myself, but do I remember the definition? Only vaguely. So the more times I see them, the better my odds of remembering. Thanks!

Jo-Jo said...

Great words--I can't wait to tell someone to go climb that butte! lol
My words are here.

Margot said...

I like the way the author used abseiled ih that sentence. All good words this week.

ibeeeg said...

I love that you have the pronunciations with your words.
I like Compendium the best.

Mercy's Maid said...

Good words! I only knew #2 and #4.

Kaye said...

abseiled ~ certainly never heard of that one. Thanks for visiting today.