Lemniscate

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 168:

lemniscate

the symbol representing infinity, or (to be more mathematical) a figure-eight shaped curve whose polar coordinates are p²=a² .  This is from the Latin word lemniscata, meaning "hanging ribbons."

Nychthemeron

Apologies for this late posting.  I am blogging from an oblique position, as I've been enduring a mild stomach bug this afternoon and evening.  No Oscars party for me.  

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 166:

nychthemeron

a full period of night and day, from the Greek - literally, night (nykt) + day (hemera).  (Merriam Webster)

 

by sophie wilson

Waif

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 165:

waif

A late Middle English term (Oxford Dictionaries) referring to a stray person or animal, especially a homeless child, found without an owner and quite by chance. Waif can also refer to an unclaimed piece of property found (as if washed up by the sea) or stolen goods abandoned by an absconding thief.  I am currently reading The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, a beautiful novel about a such mysterious waif who enters the lives of a husband and wife on the Alaskan frontier ca. 1920.

 

Patina

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 164:

patina

A film (usually green) that forms naturally on copper and bronze due to long-term exposure (or artificial acid treatments), valued for its color.  I love this word - it is the surface mark of something that has grown beautiful with age and use.  It also describes ones appearance or aura derived from association, habit or established character.  More generally: a superficial exterior.

Duende

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 162:

duende

Pronounced du-'en-dey, this is the power to attract through one's personal magnetism and charm.  Duede comes from the Spanish word for ghost or goblin, and is used to describe to the magnetic power or force that draws an audience to the performance of a flamenco dancer.

Germane

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 161:

germane (adj)

being immediately appropriate and relevant, fitting.

Vector

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 160:

vector

A quantity that has magnitude and direction, generally represented by a directed line segment, the length of which represents the magnitude while its orientation indicates direction.  More simply, vector is a course or compass direction.  I like to use to the word vector as an alternative to "plot", because more often than not, I find that my novels and stories tend in certain directions of their own volition, and that the only way to know where they're headed is to travel with them, using an outline as a compass only to keep my bearings.

Keyway

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 159:

keyway

Simply, a keyway is the groove or channel for a key, especially in a lock requiring a flat metal key.

Threshold

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 158:

threshold

This noun has a few interesting facets:

1.) a section of wood or stone that lies under a doorway;

2.) a means or place of entry, or a place at the beginning of something;

3.) the point or level at which a physical or mental effect begins to be produced, as in "pain threshold": at which level do you begin to feel it?

According to Oxford Dictionaries, threshold is an Old English word - thresh being related to tread in a Germanic sense, and hold (perhaps) emphasizing "place to tread." This leads me to believe that the naming of Thresh in The Hunger Games was not entirely coincidental.  In fact, it probably wasn't.

To Osculate

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 157:

osculate (v)

To kiss (mathematically).  This is a geometry term used when a pair of curves or surfaces touch on a common tangent.  Using the word as "kiss" has a humorous context, but I'd imagine it would be perfect to describe two science scholars in love.

Corybantic

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 156:

corybantic

This is an adjective meaning "wild and frenzied". This term is from the mid-17th century - corybantic being derived from Corybantes, which is the Latinized name of the Phrygian goddess of nature who was known for her wild dances.  Phrygia was an ancient region of Asia Minor, which saw the peak of its influence from the 6th the to 8th century B.C.  I am almost positive the first place I saw this word was in John Crowley's first book of the Aegypt cycle, The Solitudes. 

Paraselene

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 155:

paraselene

Broken down, the word means "beside the moon." This is a bright spot formed in the sky like a parahelion, a sun dog, only a paraselene is formed by moonlight.  This is also known as a mock moon or, yes, a moon dog.

Abyss & Two Adjectives

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 154

abyss

abysmal

abyssal

An abyss (n) is a very deep or bottomless hole, sometimes used in reference to outer space. (In every Star Wars movie, there always seems to be a great, bottomless shaft over which characters much swing and into which villains must fall.) From it come two adjectives, one emotional, the other more general.  Abysmal indicates an immeasurably deep, bottomless place or absolutely wretched.  Abyssal on the other hand refers to an unspecific depth, and, frankly, sounds nicer.  What is it about the m in abysmal that produces a wretched connotation?  I like to think of it (perhaps inaccurately) as abyss + mal = depth, bad. 

Mystical

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 153:

mystical (adj)

Mystical refers to mystics or religious mysticism - in other words, spiritually allegorical or symbolic, transcendent of human understanding.  More generally, something mystical inspires a sense of spiritual mystery, awe and fascination as concerned with the soul or the spirit, as opposed to material things.  This word is also used to refer to ancient religious mysteries or other rites that have occult or esoteric (hidden) origins.

I remember early on in my writing (probably in the early high school phase) using this word repeatedly without really knowing what it meant.  One thing that is clear to me now is that mystical comes from mystery, and sounds like "mist-ical." Although it's an inaccurate way of looking at the word, "mist" audibly points me to the idea that complete understanding of the universe is misted over, and as writers, we have the gift to walk into that mist and write of what lies on the other side. 

Sturm und Drang

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 152:

Sturm und Drang

directly translates from the German as "storm and stress."  In other words, turmoil on an epic scale... describing massive snowstorms (that some apparently want to call "Nemo") and hurricanes, war or social strife, or even anguish on a deeply personal level.  This word is a classic example of how English is a sponge for words from other languages to convey concepts in ineffable but no less understandable ways.  When you hear "sturm und drang" aren't you just a little freaked out?

Elflocks

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 151:

elflocks (n)

a tangled mass of hair.  This is the style of Peter Pan, Puck, Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, and various children of the woods, fairy stories and daydreams.  Think unkempt mop.

Insipid

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 150:

insipid (adj)

Lacking taste or particular savor.  Dull.  Weak.  Think cream of wheat without brown sugar or watery coffee.  (Bleh!)  Applied to character, this is quite the potent word.

I once thought this was another synonym interchangeable with stupid or ridiculous, but I learned it pays to actually look up words I want to use!  

Cipher (j)

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 149:

cipher (n)

One my favorite words because it has so many facets.  This is what I call (& how I describe) the villains in my novel.

A cipher is:

1.) A secret or disguised way of writing, a code or a thing written in a cipher, or a key to such a cipher.

2.) A zero, or the figure 0.

3.) A person or thing of little or no importance, especially one who does the bidding of others and tends not to have a will (or identity) of their own.

4.) A monogram.

5.) The continuous note of a malfunctioning organ pipe.

I've also seen it spelled "cypher" but I believe this is atypical. 

Luciferin (j)

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 148:

luciferin (n)

Luciferin is the natural substance present in certain organisms that produce heatless light upon oxidation - like fireflies.  This is from the Latin word "lucifer" meaning "light-bearing," and, yes, is also the name of the Devil.  Ironic, no?

Unctuous (j)

Adventures in Logophilia, Day 147:

unctuous (adj)

Greasy, oily, smug.  Falsely earnest.  The cigarette-smoking man (The X-Files).  Thomas Barrow (Downton Abbey). The Master (Doctor Who).