apercu

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The Word of the Day for May 23 is:

apercu   \ap-er-SOO\   noun
     1 : a brief survey or sketch : outline
   *2 : an immediate impression;  especially : insight

Example sentence: 
     He holds the reader's attention with his artful essays woven with 
entertaining anecdotes and wry apercus.

Did you know?
     In French, "apercu" is the past participle of the verb "apercevoir" ("to 
perceive" or "to comprehend"), which in turn comes from Latin "percipere" ("to 
perceive"). It is also a noun meaning "insight," "judgment," or "quick survey." 
English speakers borrowed the noun "apercu," meaning and all, in the early 19th 
century. And though it has a literary tone, and is mostly used in writing, we 
put it to good use: "Cybercafes have sprung up in Paris.... For Netties on 
holiday, they offer an opportunity to log on as well as an apercu of French 
techno-life" (Catharine Reynolds, _Gourmet_, April 1997). "Apercevoir" is also 
an ancestor of two other English words: "apperceive," meaning "to have 
consciousness of oneself," and "apperception," meaning "introspective 
self-consciousness" or "mental perception."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.