logo       

parietal: msg#00003

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: parietal

****************************************************************
It's May! Or is it "might"? Settle the dispute with our
Concise Dictionary of English Usage.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?conusg.htm&6
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for May 4 is:

parietal \puh-RYE-uh-tul\ adjective
1 a : of or relating to the walls of a part or cavity b : of, relating
to, or forming the upper posterior wall of the head
2 : attached to the main wall rather than the axis or a cross wall of a
plant ovary
*3 : of or relating to college living or its regulation

Example sentence:
The college's parietal rules allow for coed dormitories.

Did you know?
Fifteenth-century scientists first used "parietal" (from Latin "paries,"
meaning "wall of a cavity or hollow organ") to describe a pair of bones of the
roof of the skull between the frontal and posterior bone. Later, "parietal" was
also applied to structures connected to or found in the same general area as
these bones; the parietal lobe, for example, is the middle division of each
hemisphere of the brain. In the 19th century, botanists adopted "parietal" as a
word for ovules and placentas attached to the walls of plant ovaries. It was
also in the 19th century that "parietal" began to be heard on college campuses,
outside of the classroom; in 1837, Harvard College established the Parietal
Committee to be in charge of "all offences against good order and decorum
within the walls."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.







<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Google Custom Search

News | FAQ | advertise