Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Wondrous Words Wednesday


Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bermudaonion's Weblog where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading.  If you want to play along, grab the button, and join the fun!  (Don’t forget to leave a link in the comments if you’re participating.)

From Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
1. p. 285 "At some point, though, they all told me of having reached a spiritual dead end; a feeling, at once inchoate and oppressive..."
INCHOATE (in KOh it):  not organized; lacking order.
ORIGIN: 1534, from Latin inchoatus.

2. p. 294 "...I also felt for the first time how that spirit carried within it, nascent, incomplete, the possibility of moving beyond our narrow dreams."
NASCENT (NAS-uhnt): beginning to exist or develop.
ORIGIN: 1624, from Latin nascentum nasci "to be born"

From The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James
1. p. 89 "...all members of my family were there assembled in forlorn tableau, weeping..."
TABLEAU (tab LOH): a picturesque grouping of persons or objects; a striking scene.
ORIGIN: 1699, from French tableau "picture, painting," from Old French table "slab, writing tablet"

2. p. 113 "Emily, by nature, was not garrulous when deeply moved by serious fears for joys..."
GARRULOUS: Given to excessive and often trivial or rambling talk; tiresomely talkative.
ORIGIN:  1611, from Latin garrulus "talkative," from garrire "to chatter," from Proto Indo-European base *gar-/*ger- "to cry," of imitative origin.

4 comments:

  1. I've seen inchoate before but didn't know it's meaning. It's a great word! Thanks for participating today!

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  2. I like garrulous. I've heard of the word but don't use it. I should as I know people who are garrulous.

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  3. I knew tableau and garrulous.

    http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com/2010/01/wondrous-words.html

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  4. This seems fun. I will learn more vocab now!!!

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