Word of the Day
ghibli
noun
a hot dust-bearing wind of the North African desert.
More about ghibli
Ghibli “a hot wind of the North African desert” is a loanword from Libyan Arabic gibli “south wind,” which is equivalent to standard Arabic qiblī (alternatively translated as qibliyy) “southern.” The reason for the h in ghibli is because of Italian, which borrowed ghibli from Arabic; because g before e or i is pronounced like “j” in Italian, an h is added to preserve the hard “g” sound. Despite the presence of the h, when visionary animator and director Hayao Miyazaki borrowed the name for his film studio, Studio Ghibli, he transliterated the name into Japanese as Jiburi. Ghibli was first recorded in English in the early 19th century.
how is ghibli used?
There are other, less constant winds that change direction, that can knock down horse and rider and realign themselves anticlockwise. The bist roz leaps into Afghanistan for 170 days—burying villages. There is the hot, dry ghibli from Tunis, which rolls and rolls and produces a nervous condition. The haboob—a Sudan dust storm that dresses in bright yellow walls a thousand metres high and is followed by rain.
Despite his intentions the night before, Emilio Busi woke up early and in an ugly mood because of the heat, the noise of the ghibli, and the thoughts that would not leave him alone. He left his house behind the cathedral and went on foot to the market, trying to protect his eyes and mouth from the sand. His long hair flapped around in the wind, and his large horn-rimmed glasses acted as a screen.
triturate
verb (used with object)
to reduce to fine particles or powder by rubbing, grinding, bruising, or the like; pulverize.
More about triturate
Triturate “to reduce to powder by grinding” comes from Late Latin trītūrātus, the past participle of the verb trītūrāre “to thresh, rub, crush,” which is the frequentative of the verb terere, of the same meaning. (To learn more about frequentative verbs, check out our recent Word of the Day dauntless.) Terere is also the source of English terms such as contrite and detriment, and distantly related to terere are numerous words in Indo-European languages somewhat related to rubbing, turning, and similar actions. From Latin triō “plow ox” comes the recent Word of the Day septentrion, while Ancient Greek tórnos “tool for making circles” gives us attorney, contour, detour, and turn. Because Latin t tends to correspond to English th, native English relatives of triturate include thrash, thread, threshold, and throw; compare the recent Words of the Day togated and transcendental. Triturate was first recorded in English circa 1620.
how is triturate used?
When well triturated, the mixture is to be dissolved in about two ounces of proof spirits (good whiskey) and put into a tall vial, such as eau-de-Cologne bottle …. If … the weather [is] promising to be fine, all the solid part of the composition which appears in the glass will be closely collected at the bottom, and the liquid above will be quite clear; but on the approach, of a change to rain, the solid matter will appear gradually to rise, and small crystalline stars will be observed to float.
“But to get this oil you’re using now you triturate and distill the oil-free meal of bitter almonds—”
“Triturate?” Andy didn’t want to put Maclain on the spot, but he couldn’t help breaking in.
“Pulverize,” Steve explained admiringly. “Yes, that’s it, sir.”
flageolet
noun
a small end-blown flute with four finger holes in front and two in the rear.
More about flageolet
Flageolet “a small end-blown flute” comes from Old French flajolet, which comprises flajol “flute” and the diminutive suffix -et. Flajol is originally a word from the Provençal language, also known as Occitan, which was once widely spoken throughout what is now southern France and still survives thanks to language revitalization efforts. Ultimately, flageolet may come from the Latin verb flāre “to blow,” which is the source of deflate, inflate, and even flavor. Because Latin f tends to correspond to English b, cognates of flageolet in English include blow, blast, and perhaps bladder and blather, the latter two from a Germanic source roughly translated as “something blown up.” Flageolet was first recorded in English in the 1650s.
how is flageolet used?
Beginning with a few flutes that he used for a children’s program, Mr. [Trevor] Wye, a collector of rare and unusual flutes, gradually developed a program he called “Afflatus.” In it, he uses 40 different types of flutes, which he plays one after another, including the rare “triple flageolet” and a flute that catches fire…