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florescence: msg#00022culture.language.word-of-the-day
***************************************************************** Calling all new word spotters! Now there's a forum for your lexical discoveries--join Merriam-Webster Unabridged today! http://www.merriam-webster.com/premium/ ***************************************************************** The Word of the Day for June 23 is: florescence \flaw-RESS-unss\ noun : a state or period of flourishing Example sentence: Dr. Harrison's new book chronicles the florescence of art, literature and scientific discovery that took place during the Renaissance. Did you know? The flowering of botany as a science in the 18th century produced a garden of English words that came about as adaptations of Latin words. Botanists picked "florescence" as a showy word to refer to the blooming of a flower -- a good choice given that the term grew out of the New Latin "florescentia," meaning "blossoming." ("New Latin" refers to the form of Latin still used by scientists to name and classify organisms.) "Florescentia" is related to the verb "florere" ("to blossom or flourish") and rooted in the Latin noun "flos," meaning "flower." Less literal types appreciated the word, too, and applied it to anything that seemed to be thriving or flourishing. |
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