Word of the Day
descry
verb (used with object)
to see (something unclear or distant) by looking carefully; discern; espy.
More about descry
Descry “to see by looking carefully” may look and sound like describe, but the two are not related. While describe comes from Latin scrībere “to write,” descry and the related verb decry both come from Old French crier “to cry,” the source of English cry. From here, there are at least four hypotheses regarding the origin of crier. The traditional story is that crier ultimately comes from the Latin verb quirītāre “to cry out in protest,” a verb said to be related to the noun Quirītēs “citizens of Rome,” though this connection may be folk etymology and therefore based on mere coincidence. Some sources allege that quirītāre is instead a frequentative form of the verb querī “to complain” (the source of quarrel and querulous), while others connect quirītāre to quirrītāre “to grunt (as a boar).” However, Latin may not be involved at all; crier could derive instead from a Frankish source cognate to Dutch krijten “to cry” and German kreischen “to shriek.” Descry was first recorded in English in the late 13th century.
how is descry used?
On September 18 and 19, starting before sunrise and finishing after sunset, Wilkes took 4,882 photographs of the art installation In America: Remember, an exhibit that aims to convey the enormity of the country’s pandemic losses …. To do so, Wilkes spent two days suspended 45 feet above the ground in a lift—high enough for a bird’s eye view but low enough to descry people’s gestures and body language. He positioned the lift purposely: He wanted the National Museum of African American History and Culture … to be a focal point because “so many people of color were dramatically impacted by this virus.”
Having thus prepared all things as well as I was able, I set sail on the twenty-fourth day of September, 1701, at six in the morning; and, when I had gone about four leagues to the northward, the wind being at southeast, at six in the evening I descried a small island about half a league to the northwest[.] I advanced forward, and cast anchor on the lee side of the island, which seemed to be uninhabited.
andiron
noun
one of a pair of metal stands, usually of iron or brass, for holding logs in a fireplace.
More about andiron
Andiron “one of a pair of metal stands for holding logs in a fireplace” may be a common noun, but its history is anything but typical. Andiron derives by way of Anglo-French from Old French andier, with a change in spelling and pronunciation because of an association with the unrelated English noun iron. Prior to Old French, the history of andiron is unclear; the most frequently appearing hypothesis is a derivation from Gaulish anderos “young animal,” after the use of decorative animal heads on andirons, but this connection remains unproven. If the link is valid, andiron is a distant cognate with the words for “bull” and “heifer” in several modern Celtic languages, such as Breton and Welsh. Andiron was first recorded in English in the late 13th century.
how is andiron used?
But the things that … Tom liked the most, were two great brazen Andirons that stood in the fireplace. To Tom these Andirons, though up to the night when our story begins he had never seen them move, seemed almost to live. They had big, round, good-natured faces, that shone like so much gold. Their necks were slight and graceful, but as they developed downward toward their handsome feet the Andirons grew more portly, until finally they came to look very much like a pair of amiable sea serpents without much length. Tom’s uncle said they looked like cats, with sunflowers for heads, swan necks for bodies, and very little of the cat about them save the claws.
avouch
verb (used with object)
to make frank acknowledgment or affirmation of; declare or assert with positiveness.
More about avouch
Avouch “to make frank acknowledgment of” is derived by way of Middle French avouchier from Latin advocāre “to call to one’s aid.” Advocāre is also the source of advocate (as well as French avocat and Spanish abogado, both meaning “lawyer”) and comes from Latin vōx “voice.” Two doublets of avouch are the similar-sounding avow “to declare frankly and openly” and vouch “to support as being true,” both of which are also derived from advocāre, but even more surprising is that vow “to pledge or resolve solemnly to do” is not related to this family of verbs. Instead, vow comes from Latin vovēre (stem vōt-) “to vow,” which is also the source of vote. Avouch was first recorded in English in the late 14th century.
how is avouch used?
Sophronia, after eying the one and the other somewhat despitefully, fell a-weeping bitterly, complaining of Gisippus his deceit; then, rather than make any words of this in his house, she repaired to that of her father and there acquainted him and her mother with the cheat that had been put upon her and them by Gisippus, avouching herself to be the wife of Titus and not of Gisippus, as they believed.
With Arjun Radhakrishnan as Kalam a casting can’t be more accurate than this. And I avouch that as he brilliantly holds his own against a slightly more seasoned star cast.