image map Home Favorites Reading About Contact

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday @ BermudaOnion What new words have you learned this week? Join Kathy and friends to see more.

I finished “Life of Pi” and found these 6 new words, bringing the total to at least 15 words I didn’t know. I like that in a book! Do you?

1. frugivorous
(adj) [froo-JIV-er-uhs]

Definition—fruit-eating, as certain bats

Use“But it seemed to me highly improbable, if not totally incredible, that when brought together these frugivorous tree-dwellers and carnivorous savannah-dwellers would so radically carve out their niches as to pay no attention to each other.”

2. fistula
(n) [FIS-choo-luh]

Definition—an abnormal passage from a hollow organ to the body surface, or from one organ to another.

Use“It had a two-foot-wide hole in its body, a fistula like a freshly erupted volcano.”

3. insouciant
(adj) [in-SOO-see-uhnt]

Definition—free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant

Use“But in the final set, when the challenger has nothing left to lose, he becomes relaxed again, insouciant, daring.”

4. rufous
(adj) [ROO-fuhs]

Definition—reddish; tinged with red; brownish red

Use“It brought less attention to itself than it did to the one part of the face left untouched by it, the bridge, whose rufous luster shone nearly with a radiance.”

5. ambit
(n) [AM-bit]

Definition—circumference; circuit

Use“Fish that were local in their ambit made the net their neighbourhood.”

6. gaff
(v)

Definition—to hook or land (a fish) with a gaff (which is an iron hook with a handle for landing large fish)

Use“I managed to gaff some of the shark’s remains, but to my disappointment the vertebrae of sharks do not hold fluid.”

* * *

Which words did you already know?

4 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Those are all new to me. I read that book years ago and just must have guessed at the words' meaning. Maybe that's why I didn't enjoy it all that much.

Margot said...

All those words in one book? Your dictionary got a good work-out, didn't it.

Beth(bookaholicmom) said...

15 words from one book is quite a bit. It's fun to learn new words. The only one of these that I had ever heard of was gaff.

The Westie Loving Therapist said...

I have not ever heard of any of those words and they sure span a wide range of vocabulary. Thank you for introducing them to me. :)

Here are my words...http://westietherapy.blogspot.com/2010/01/wondrous-words-duty-and-desire.html

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails