Monday, February 12, 2018

Merriam-Webster Word of the Day - Adust


 
WORD OF THE DAY
February 12, 2018
 
 

 
 
 
adust Audio pronunciation
 
adjective | uh-DUST  
 
Definition
 
 
Scroll down for more about adust
 
 
 
WORD GAMES AND QUIZZES: WEEKLY CHALLENGE
 
 
 
Advanced Vocabulary Quiz
 
Tough words and tougher competition.
 
  PLAY NOW  
 
Nailed this quiz? We have plenty more to try!  TAKE ME THERE  >
 
Plus:   SEE WHAT LOOKUPS ARE TRENDING NOW!  >
 
 
 
Did You Know?
 
Adust comes from Latin adustus, the past participle of adūrere ("to set fire to"), a verb formed from the Latin prefix ad- and the verb ūrere ("to burn"). It entered the English language in the early 15th century as a medical term related to the four bodily humors—black bile, blood, phlegm, and yellow bile—which were believed at the time to determine a person's health and temperament. Adust was used to describe a condition of the humors in which they supposedly became heated or combusted. Adust black bile in particular was believed to be a source of melancholy. The association with melancholy gave rise to a sense of adust meaning "of a gloomy appearance or disposition," but that sense is now considered archaic.
 
 
Examples of ADUST
 
The adust landscape of volcanic rock and sand can be particularly beautiful at sunset.
 
"These arid and adust creatures, looking like the mummies of some antediluvian animals, … had to all appearance come out from this long tempest of trial unscathed and unharmed."
Thomas De Quincey, Revolt of the Tartars, 1837
 
Word Family Quiz
 
What word is derived from the Latin verb ūrere and in its pluralized form refers to the smoldering remains of a fire or to fading memories?
 
VIEW THE ANSWER  >
 
 
 
 
USAGE NOTES
 
 
'Free Rein' or 'Free Reign'?
 
The phrase does not make you king or queen for the day.
 
 
 
 
 
  MORE WORD FUN:
 
      TRENDING NOW >
 
      WORDS AT PLAY >

No comments:

Post a Comment

The South Central Bulldog reserves the right to reject any comment for any reason, without explanation.