Orpheus
Mac Dictionary’s definition:
a poet who could entrance wild beasts with the beauty of his singing and lyre playing. He went to the underworld after the death of his wife Eurydice and secured her release from the dead, but lost her because he failed to obey the condition that he must not look back at her until they had reached the world of the living.
DERIVATIVES
Orphean |-fēən| adjective
Do you know Orpheus?
Ecdysiast
Mac Dictionary’s definition:
noun humorous
a striptease performer.
ORIGIN 1940: coined by H. L. Mencken from Greek ekdusis ‘shedding,’ on the pattern of enthusiast.
Are you a ecdysiast?
Aesthetic
Mac Dictionary’s definition:
adjective
concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty : the pictures give great aesthetic pleasure.
• giving or designed to give pleasure through beauty; of pleasing appearance.
noun [in sing. ]
a set of principles underlying and guiding the work of a particular artist or artistic movement : the Cubist aesthetic.
DERIVATIVES
aesthetically |-ik(ə)lē| adverb : [as submodifier ] an aesthetically pleasing color combination.
ORIGIN late 18th cent. (in the sense [relating to perception by the senses] ): from Greek aisthētikos, from aisthēta ‘perceptible things,’ from aisthesthai ‘perceive.’ The sense [concerned with beauty] was coined in German in the mid 18th cent. and adopted into English in the early 19th cent., but its use was controversial until late in the century.
The aesthetic of pleasure.
Skepticism
Mac Dictionary’s definition:
noun
1 a person inclined to question or doubt all accepted opinions.
• a person who doubts the truth of Christianity and other religions; an atheist or agnostic.
2 Philosophy an ancient or modern philosopher who denies the possibility of knowledge, or even rational belief, in some sphere.
The leading ancient skeptic was Pyrrho, whose followers at the Academy vigorously opposed Stoicism. Modern skeptics have held diverse views: the most extreme have doubted whether any knowledge at all of the external world is possible (see solipsism ), while others have questioned the existence of objects beyond our experience of them.
adjective
another term for skeptical .
DERIVATIVES
skepticism |ˈskeptəˌsizəm| ( Brit. scepticism) noun
ORIGIN late 16th cent. (sense 2) : from French sceptique, or via Latin from Greek skeptikos, from skepsis ‘inquiry, doubt.’
I’m skeptical of York University’s security policies.
Slime
Mac Dictionary’s definition:
noun
a moist, soft, and slippery substance, typically regarded as repulsive : the cold stone was wet with slime.
• informal a slimeball.
verb [ trans. ]
cover with slime : what grass remained was slimed over with pale brown mud.
ORIGIN Old English slīm, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch slijm and German Schleim ‘mucus, slime,’ Latin limus ‘mud,’ and Greek limnē ‘marsh.’
You know what’s slimy? Frogs.
Epitome
Mac Dictionary’s definition:
noun
1 ( the epitome of) a person or thing that is a perfect example of a particular quality or type : she looked the epitome of elegance and good taste.
2 a summary of a written work; an abstract.
• archaic a thing representing something else in miniature.
DERIVATIVES
epitomist |-mist| noun
ORIGIN early 16th cent.: via Latin from Greek epitomē, from epitemnein ‘abridge,’ from epi ‘in addition’ + temnein ‘to cut.’
I am the epitome of good faith. What about you?
Epistemic
Mac Dictionary’s definition:
of or relating to knowledge or to the degree of its validation.
DERIVATIVES
epistemically |-(ə)lē| adverb
ORIGIN 1920s: from Greek epistēmē ‘knowledge’ (see epistemology ) + -ic .
Good ol’ Greeks. We created everything, you know?
Callipygian
Mac Dictionary’s definition:
having well-shaped buttocks.
DERIVATIVES
callipygous |-ˈpīgəs| adjective
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from Greek kallipūgos (used to describe a famous statue of Venus), from kallos ‘beauty’ + pūgē ‘buttocks,’ + -ian.
Well, gentlemen, I think we’ve found a politer way to tell a girl she has a nice ass:
“Dude, you know you want her, she’s extremely callipygian.”
“Yeah, man!”
Atmosphere
Mac Dictionary’s definition:
The envelope of gases surrounding the earth or another planet : part of the sun’s energy is absorbed by the earth’s atmosphere.
• the air in any particular place : we couldn’t breathe in the dusty atmosphere of his apartment.
• (abbr.: atm) Physics a unit of pressure equal to mean atmospheric pressure at sea level, 101,325 pascals.
2 the pervading tone or mood of a place, situation, or work of art : the hotel is famous for its friendly, welcoming atmosphere | this crisis further compounded the prevailing atmosphere of gloom.
• a pleasurable and interesting or exciting mood : a superb restaurant, full of atmosphere.
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from modern Latin atmosphaera, from Greek atmos ‘vapor’ + sphaira ‘ball, globe.’
Petrichor
Of course it’s Greek:
is the scent of rain on dry earth. The word is constructed from Greek, petra, meaning stone + ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology.
The term was coined in 1964 by two Australian researchers, Bear and Thomas, for an article in the journal Nature.[1] In the article, the authors describe how the smell derives from an oil exuded by certain plants during dry periods, whereupon it is absorbed by clay-based soils and rocks. During rain, the oil is released into the air along with another compound, geosmin, producing the distinctive scent. In a follow-up paper, Bear and Thomas (1965) showed that the oil retards seed germination and early plant growth.[2]
Thanks Wikipedia.
You know what’s a great smell? Fresh cut grass. Mmmmmm. Sorry, had to share that.
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