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millefleur: msg#00007

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: millefleur

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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
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The Word of the Day for May 8 is:

millefleur \meel-FLUR\ adjective
: having an allover pattern of small flowers and plants

Example sentence:
"Among the works to be exhibited are a 15th-century Flemish millefleur
tapestry...." (Devorah L. Knaff, _Press Enterprise_ [Riverside, CA], April 27,
2003)

Did you know?
"Millefleur" came into French from the Latin "mille florae" and from
French directly into English. Although the literal meaning of "mille florae" is
"a thousand flowers," it is easy to see how "millefleur" came to be applied to
a style of artistic expression featuring a pattern or background of many tiny
flowers or plants. A similarly colorful extension of "a thousand flowers" can
be seen in the word "millefiori." That term, which refers to ornamental glass
characterized by multicolored flower-like designs, comes from "mille fiori,"
the Italian phrase meaning "a thousand flowers."






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