frisson

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The Word of the Day for July 21 is:

frisson   \free-SOHNG (the last vowel is pronounced nasally, and 
the final "ng" is not pronounced)\   noun
     : a brief moment of emotional excitement : shudder, thrill 

Example sentence:
     When the roller coaster reached the top of the first hill, 
a frisson of fear shot through Angie as she anticipated the 
thrilling and terrifying downward plunge. 

Did you know? 
     "I feel a shiver that's not from the cold as the band and 
the crowd go charging through the final notes ... That frisson, 
that exultant moment...." That's how writer Robert W. Stock 
characterized the culmination of a big piece at a concert in 
1982. His allusion to the cold is apt given that "frisson" comes 
from the French word for "shiver." "Frisson" traces to the Old 
French "fricon," which in turn derives from "frictio," Latin 
for "friction." What does friction -- normally a heat 
generator -- have to do with thrills and chills? Nothing, 
actually. The association came about because "frictio" (which 
derives from the Latin "fricare," meaning "to rub") was once 
mistakenly taken to be a derivative of "frigere," which 
means "to be cold."