Word of the Day
ignescent
adjective
emitting sparks of fire, as certain stones when struck with steel.
Why the Museum of Science chose ignescent
Celebrations of the New Year will begin around the world today, and ignescent reminds us of all the brilliant fireworks displays! Learn more about the Science Word of the Week at the Museum of Science.
More about ignescent
Ignescent comes from the Latin verb ignēscere, “to catch fire,” from the noun ignis, “fire.” Ignis is the source of several fire-related words in English, including igneous, ignite, and ignition. Because Latin and Sanskrit, a classical language of India, are distantly related, Latin ignis closely resembles Sanskrit Agni, the name of the Hindu god of fire. Ignescent was first recorded in English in the 1820s.
EXAMPLE OF IGNESCENT USED IN A SENTENCE
With the dark night sky as a backdrop, the New Year’s Eve fireworks show was brilliantly ignescent.
More about smaragdine
Smaragdine, “emerald-green in color,” comes via Latin smaragdus from Ancient Greek smáragdos, “emerald,” which may derive either by way of Sanskrit or directly from a Semitic source akin to Hebrew bāreqeth “gemstone, emerald.” Bāreqeth and its Arabic relative barq, “lightning,” come from a Semitic root roughly meaning “to flash, shine.” Because of a variety of regular sound changes, Latin smaragdus evolved into Old French esmeragde (also esmeralde) and was adapted into English as emerald. For fans of Disney or Victor Hugo, this Old French word is also the source of the name Esmeralda. Smaragdine was first recorded in English in the late 14th century.
EXAMPLE OF SMARAGDINE USED IN A SENTENCE
Because the ink was not yet dry on the drawing of the Emerald City, the artist left a smaragdine smear when he brushed his hand against the page.
More about rubricate
Rubricate, “to mark or color with red,” comes from Latin rūbrīca, “red ocher,” which is also the source of English rubric, “any established mode of conduct or procedure.” The shift in definition here is because rubric originally referred in English to a title or heading in a book that was written in red for easy distinction from the rest of the text (in black), and red ocher was ground to produce the pigment once used in red ink. Rūbrīca comes from ruber, which is one of multiple Latin words for “red,” as we learned from the Word of the Day rufescent. Rubricate was first recorded in English in the 1560s.
EXAMPLE OF RUBRICATE USED IN A SENTENCE
Looking at the old tome through the display case glass, she imagined the scribe who painstakingly rubricated all of the chapter headings.