Word of the Day
chthonian
adjective
Classical Mythology.
of or relating to the deities, spirits, and other beings dwelling under the earth.
More about chthonian
Chthonian ultimately derives from the Greek adjective 肠丑迟丑贸苍颈辞蝉 鈥渙f the earth, the underground, the underworld.鈥� 颁丑迟丑贸苍颈辞蝉 is a derivative of the noun 肠丑迟丑峁搉, deriving from a very, very old Proto-Indo-European word meaning “earth” and surviving in most of the 鈥渄aughter鈥� languages. The original Proto-Indo-European root was dheghm, dhghem-, dhghom-, (dh)ghm– (with various suffixes). From dheghm– Hittite derives tekan (stem tagn-) 鈥渆arth,鈥� Tocharian A (spoken in central Asia and now part of Xin Jiang) 迟办补峁�, Sanskrit 办峁尘-, and Avestan 锄蓹尘-. From dh(e)ghom Greek has 肠丑迟丑峁搉, from earlier chthom (Greek also reversed the order of the consonant cluster from thch– to chth-). The suffixed form (dh)ghom-os yields Latin humus (from homos) 鈥渆arth,鈥� the adjective humilis 鈥渓ow to the ground鈥� (English humble), and the noun 丑耻尘颈濒颈迟腻蝉 (stem 丑耻尘颈濒颈迟腻迟-) 鈥渓owness of height or position, low condition (English humility). The suffixed form 诲丑驳丑(别)尘艒苍 鈥渙ne who is on the earth, human being鈥� becomes 丑别尘艒 (stem 丑别尘艒n-) in Old Latin, 丑辞尘艒 (stem homin-) in Latin. Latin also derives, somewhat obscurely, from homin– the adjective 丑耻尘腻苍耻蝉 鈥渙f man, human, humane, gentle鈥� (English human and humane). (Hebrew follows a similar semantic development with 腻诲丑腻尘 鈥渕an, mankind, human being, Adam鈥� and 膬诲丑腻尘腻丑 鈥渆arth, soil, ground.鈥�) In Germanic (诲丑)驳丑尘-艒苍 yields guma 鈥渉uman being, man鈥� in Gothic and Old English. Old English has the noun 产谤测虅诲驳耻尘补 鈥測oung man about to be married or recently married; bridegroom, husband,鈥� which becomes 产谤墨诲驳辞尘别 in Middle English, and bridegroom in English. The –groom in bridegroom arose in the 16th century due to the influence of groom 鈥渂oy, young man.鈥� Chthonian entered English in the mid-19th century.
how is chthonian used?
The streets throng with crowds of dapper skeletons and chthonian floats.
This chthonian belief鈥攖hat the world鈥檚 underbelly rumbles with life鈥攇uides all the so-called Earth-based faiths.
psychotronic
adjective
of or relating to a genre of usually low-budget movies that includes horror, fantasy, science-fiction, and underground films.
More about psychotronic
Psychotronic is a word to make you smile. It is composed of the perfectly ordinary combining form psycho-, from the Greek noun 辫蝉测虅肠丑岣� 鈥渂reath, spirit, soul, mind鈥� and the suffix –tronic, extracted from (elec)tronic. Psychotronic originally (1968) meant 鈥減ertaining to psychotronics,鈥� a pseudoscience devoted to the interaction of matter, energy, and human consciousness, especially in parapsychological phenomena such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and telekinesis (think the movie The Men Who Stare at Goats.) In the early 1980s another meaning arose, 鈥渞elating to a genre of usually low-budget movies that includes horror, fantasy, and science-fiction.鈥�
how is psychotronic used?
American International Pictures was the most important company in the world of Psychotronic movies.
Vesley asks viewers to accept that this is a world where ghosts, werewolves, and witches are real鈥攏o big deal, a baseline ask for any psychotronic film ….
numinous
adjective
spiritual or supernatural.
More about numinous
The Latin source for numinous is the noun numen (inflectional stem 苍奴尘颈苍-), derived from the verb –nuere 鈥渢o nod the head as a signal of assent or command.鈥� The verb –nuere occurs only in compounds such as adnuere (annuere) 鈥渢o beckon, nod, assent to,鈥� formed from the preverb ad-, an-, meaning 鈥渢o,鈥� plus –nuere. The phrase annuit coeptis, 鈥淗e (God) has favored our undertakings,鈥� is the motto on the reverse of the Great Seal of the U.S. and is also printed on the reverse of a one-dollar bill. Annuit coeptis is an adaptation of a line from from Vergil’s Aeneid. The Latin neuter noun suffix -men forms concrete nouns from verbs. The meanings of numen range from 鈥渁 nod of the head, inclination, bias,鈥� to 鈥渄ivine or supernatural power (which also possesses poets and prophets, and offers protection),” to “the expressed will of a god, divinity.鈥� Numinous entered English in the mid-17th century.
how is numinous used?
This confrontation becomes more dramatic if the numinous power takes a personified form鈥攐f a spirit, ghost, devil, revenant, nightmare, witch or some other human or non-human entity.
The Periodic Table, by contrast, was a Jacob鈥檚 ladder, a numinous spiral, going up to, coming down from a Pythagorean heaven.