foreshorten

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The Word of the Day for May 22 is:

foreshorten   \for-SHORT-un\   verb
     1 : to shorten by proportionately contracting in the direction of depth so 
that an illusion of projection or extension in space is obtained 
    *2 : to make more compact : abridge, shorten

Example sentence:
     We had a wonderful vacation, even if our time at the beach was 
foreshortened by two days of rain.

Did you know?
      "Foreshorten" first appeared in a 1606 treatise on art by the British 
writer and artist Henry Peacham: "If I should paint ... an horse with his brest 
and head looking full in my face, I must of necessity foreshorten him behinde." 
Peacham's "foreshorten" probably comes from "fore-" (meaning "earlier" or 
"beforehand") plus "shorten." The addition of "fore-" to verbs was a routine 
practice in Peacham's day, creating such words as "fore-conclude," 
"fore-consider," "fore-instruct," and "fore-repent." "Foreshorten," along with 
words like "foresee" and "foretell," is one of the few "fore-" combinations to 
still survive.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. 





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