Word of the Day
gouache
noun
an opaque watercolor prepared with gum used in painting.
More about gouache
Gouache, “an opaque watercolor prepared with gum,” is a loanword from French and is adapted from Italian guazzo, originally meaning “place where there is water.” Guazzo, in turn, apparently comes from Latin aquātiō, of the same meaning, from aqua, “water.” The Italian descendant of Latin aqua is acqua, and the Latin suffix -tiō usually becomes -gione, -zione, or -zzone in Italian, which is why Latin aquātiō is also the source of Italian acquazzone, “downpour.” How guazzo came into being, when it does not follow standard Latin-to-Italian sound change patterns, is a bit of a mystery, but one possibility is that guazzo reflects an early borrowing from a Romance language of northern Italy. Gouache was first recorded in English in the early 1880s.
EXAMPLE OF GOUACHE USED IN A SENTENCE
In contrast to watercolors, which are designed to be translucent, the thickness of gouache allows for bold colors after a single session of painting.
perennial
adjective
perpetual; everlasting; continuing; recurrent.
More about perennial
Perennial, “perpetual, continuing,” comes from Latin perennis, “lasting the whole year through,” which is based on per, “through, by,” and -enn-, a combining form of annus, “year.” A common trend in Latin is for a to change to e or i in compounds; other examples of this include ars, “skill,” becoming iners, “unskillful” (compare art and inert), and amīcus, “friend,” becoming inimicus, “unfriendly” (compare amicable, enemy, and the Word of the Day inimical). Perennial is often confused with annual because the two have similar meanings and origins, but you can learn to tell the difference by reading our article on these words. Perennial was first recorded in English circa 1640.
EXAMPLE OF PERENNIAL USED IN A SENTENCE
A key feature of the lands north of the Arctic Circle is its nearly perennial winter, with cold temperatures even in July.
Oort cloud
noun
a region of our solar system far beyond the orbit of Pluto, in which billions of comets move in nearly circular orbits unless one is pulled into a highly eccentric elliptical orbit by a passing star.
Why the Museum of Science chose Oort cloud
Earlier this year, astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to photograph one of the largest comets ever observed. Thought to have originated from the Oort cloud, this comet was twice the size of Rhode Island, measuring 80 miles across with a nucleus 50 times larger than other known comets! Watch the video below to learn more about the Oort cloud from award-winning science communicator Maynard Okereke, better known as the Hip Hop M.D.
More about Oort cloud
The Oort cloud is the namesake of Dutch astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort, who first proposed the cloud’s existence. The surname Oort comes from Middle Dutch ort or oort, meaning “edge, corner, outermost point,” which makes the name Oort cloud serendipitously perfect for an area at the farthest reaches of the Solar System. Oort cloud was coined in the 1970s.
EXAMPLE OF OORT CLOUD USED IN A SENTENCE
Because the Oort cloud is so far away and contains such dim objects, we may never know just how many comets are secretly lurking out there.
FUN FACT ABOUT OORT CLOUD
While the Kuiper belt is 30–50 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun and contains dwarf planets, the Oort cloud is a whopping 2,000–200,000 AU from the Sun and contains only asteroid-like objects. Learn more fun facts at the Museum of Science.
