sinuous

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The Word of the Day for March 18 is:

sinuous   \SIN-yuh-wus\   adjective
    *1 a : of a serpentine or wavy form : winding  b : marked by strong lithe 
movements
     2 : intricate, complex 

Example sentence:
     While flying over the Midwest, I saw a long, sinuous river that wound 
through fields, farms, and towns as it made its way towards the Gulf of Mexico.

Did you know?
     Although it probably makes you think more of snakes than head colds, 
"sinuous" is etymologically more like "sinus" than "serpent." "Sinuous" and 
"sinus" both derive from the Latin noun "sinus," which means "curve, fold, or 
hollow." Other "sinus" descendents include "insinuate" ("to impart or suggest 
in an artful or indirect way") and two terms you might remember from math 
class: "sine" and "cosine." In English, "sinus" is the oldest of these words; 
it entered the language in the 1400s. "Insinuate" appeared next, in 1529, and 
was followed by "sinuous" (1578), "sine" (1593), and "cosine" (1635). 
"Serpent," by the way, entered English in the 13th century and comes from the 
Latin verb "serpere," meaning "to creep."

*Indicates the sense illustrated by the example sentence.





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