Word of the Day

[Jay]

Got a bit carried away

To search, used OneLook

Etymology
1398, earlier abime (c.1300), from L.L. abyssus, from Gk. abyssos "bottomless," from a- "without" (see a- (2)) + byssos "bottom," possibly related to bathos "depth." Abyssal is first recorded 1691, used especially of the zone of ocean water below 300 fathoms.

Too long to paste here, Wikipedia on abyss

Cambridge Dictionary
1 LITERARY: a very deep hole which seems to have no bottom

2 a difficult situation that brings trouble or destruction:
The country is sinking/plunging into an abyss of violence and lawlessness.
She found herself on the edge of an abyss.

Bartleby - pronunciation file
1. An immeasurably deep chasm, depth, or void: “lost in the vast abysses of space and time” (Loren Eiseley).
2a. The primeval chaos out of which it was believed that the earth and sky were formed.
2b. The abode of evil spirits; hell.

Art dictionary:
Ambivalent, as both the profundity of the depth and as abasement and inferiority. Often a symbol of the uncertainty of childhood, the abyss may also represent indefinte depths or heights and is closely associated with evolution, both individual and universal. "Man has to confront his personal abyss at least four times in a lifetime, that is, he has to reconsider his convictions and question his motives in order to achieve maturity (the four ages of man)" (Julien, 5).
Also associated with the 'land of the dead' and the underworld, often Hell, and is identified as the place to which departed spirits might be cast.

Catholic encyclopedia:
(Greek abyssos).

Abyss is primarily and classically an adjective, meaning deep, very deep (Wisd., x, 19; Job, xxxviii, 16). Elsewhere in the Bible, and once in Diog. Laert., it is a substantive. Some thirty times in the Septuagint it is the equivalent of the Hebrew tehom, Assyrian tihamtu, and once each of the Hebrew meculah, "sea-deep", culah, "deep flood", and rachabh, "spacious place". Hence the meanings:
(1) primeval waters;
(2) the waters beneath the earth;
(3) the upper seas and rivers;
(4) the abode of the dead, limbo;
(5) the abode of the evil spirits, hell.
The last two meanings are the only ones found in the New Testament.

Scientific
A particularly deep part of the ocean, between 4,000 and 7,000 m depth.

[Scheherazade]

soporific (adj) causing sleep or making a person want to sleep:

the soporific effect of the heat


soporifically (adv)



source

[Scheherazade]

motile (adj) (especially of plants, organisms and very small forms of life) able to move by itself

motility noun [U]



http://dictionary.cambridge.org/defi...2052&dict=CALD

[subterranean]

idol



1. An image used as an object of worship.
A false god.


2. One that is adored, often blindly or excessively.

3. Something visible but without substance.


idolism

The worship of idols.


Idolist

A worshiper of idols


idolater or idolator

1. One who worships idols.

2. One who blindly or excessively admires or adores another

www.dictionary.com

Hylozoism:

n. belief that all matter has life. hylozoist, n. hylozoistic(al), a.

please cite the source

April 18th

man·i·fold ( P ) Pronunciation Key (mn-fld)
adj.
Many and varied; of many kinds; multiple: our manifold failings.
Having many features or forms: manifold intelligence.
Being such for a variety of reasons: a manifold traitor.
Consisting of or operating several devices of one kind at the same time.

n.
A whole composed of diverse elements.
One of several copies.
A pipe or chamber having multiple apertures for making connections.
Mathematics. A topological space or surface.

please cite the source

serendipity noun [U]
the lucky tendency to find interesting or valuable things just by chance

The actress Lana Turner, it is said, was discovered by serendipity at Schwab's Hollywood drug store.


serendipitous adjective

Reading should be an adventure, a personal experience full of serendipitous surprises.


PS: One word I keep looking up in the dictionary... Always reminds me of 'serenity'.

Please cite the source

April 16

defenestrate

v : throw through or out of the window; "The rebels stormed the palace and defenestrated the President

please cite the source

April 10th: Fangorious

points to anyone who figures out what it means

extra points to anyone who figures out where it came from.

please cite the source

March 24th

For all those weary of the endless commute from the homely suburbs into the dreary office-pocked metropolis:

Bathysiderodromophobia : noun fear of subways, undergrounds, or metros

please cite the source

[Jay]

Oy
*blames Ash *
Are we to send the answers to you via PM? (hint, deleting the attachment would be a good idea in that case )
Nice, can we play teachers and students? Pretty please?

[Scheherazade]

I am reading enough papers as it is, thank you! You can check your own answers and let us know how you did... If you feel like it!

[Jay]

Come on, you could give KitKats instead of grades ... as I wouldn't be too happy with more Fs and I could do with a short-term chocolate intake shortage

[Scheherazade]

Is it me or are you actually encouraging me to mark your quizes?

[baddad]

#'s.....20,16,13 11.....stumped me. My left hand quivered, as it was closest to my dictionary, but I fought off the impulse.......and it took willpower to do that. Strange, or maybe not so stange is the power of Conditioning, the pavlovian impulse.......

*bathysiderodromophobia?????????* ...a fear of never having a dictionary handy??

[Scheherazade]

*bathysiderodromophobia?????????* ...a fear of never having a dictionary handy??

You can thank AP for that one!

The answer key is attached by the way... No need for the dictionary.

[Jay]

Well, Scher, you don't just issue a quiz and then think it's gonna be easy!

I'm... too lazy to answer, but I would have problems defining:

jingoist
ubiquitous
motile
bathysideromophobia
syndic
acquiesce
idolator
equanimity
serendipity
sesquipedalian

imvho they're not even words

[Scheherazade]

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ begs to differ!

[Jay]

It's lying!

[Nightshade]

Cornobbled --To hit with a fish.
http://teachers.ocps.net/~kellyd2/mi...rchiveword.htm

[Scheherazade]

Nightshade, unfortunately 'cornobbled' cannot be found in any dictionary. Would you like to replace it with another word? Thank you.