gossamer

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The Word of the Day for November 1 is: 

gossamer   \GAH-suh-mer\   adjective
          : extremely light, delicate, or tenuous

Example sentence:
          The early morning mists formed gossamer trails through the valley, 
their frail beauty a stark contrast to the dark, forbidding forest that loomed 
behind them.

Did you know?
          In the days of Middle English, a period of mild weather in late 
autumn or early winter was sometimes called a "gossomer," literally "goose 
summer." People may have chosen that name for a late-season warm spell because 
October and November were the months when people felt that geese were at their 
best for eating. “Gossomer" was also used in Middle English as a word for filmy 
cobwebs floating through the air in calm clear weather, apparently because 
somebody thought the webs looked like the down of a goose. This sense 
eventually inspired the adjective “gossamer,” which means “light, delicate, or 
tenuous” -- just like cobwebs or goose down.





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