Word of the Day
macabre
adjective
gruesome and horrifying; ghastly; horrible.
More about macabre
The history of the adjective macabre is confusing. The word is Middle French and first occurs (in French) in 1376, Je fis de 惭补肠补产谤茅 la dance 鈥淚 made the Dance of Death.鈥� In late Middle English Macabrees daunce meant 鈥淒ance of Death.鈥� French 惭补肠补产谤茅 may be an alteration of 惭补肠补产茅 鈥淢accabaeus鈥�; if so, 惭补肠补产谤茅 la dance may be the same as the medieval ritual or procession chor膿a Machabae艒rum “dance of the Maccabees,” honoring the martyrdom of Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers (II Maccabees). Macabre entered English in the 15th century.
how is macabre used?
Their macabre task is swabbing dead animals they find by the side of the road to get hold of their microbiomes鈥攖he communities of microorganisms that inhabit these mammals.
Vincent聽(1982) combines Burton鈥檚 burgeoning visual aesthetic with his lifelong love of the macabre and interest in stop-motion animation.
horripilation
noun
a bristling of the hair on the skin from cold, fear, etc.; goose bumps.
More about horripilation
Horripilation 鈥渂ristling of the hair on the skin from cold or fear,鈥� is a three-dollar word for goose bumps. Horripilation comes from the Late Latin noun 丑辞谤谤颈辫颈濒腻迟颈艒 (inflectional stem horripilation-), a derivative of the verb 丑辞谤谤颈辫颈濒腻谤别 鈥渢o become bristly or hairy.鈥� 贬辞谤谤颈辫颈濒腻迟颈艒 first appears in the Vulgate, the Latin version of the Bible, prepared chiefly by Saint Jerome at the end of the 4th century a.d. Horripilation entered English in the mid-17th century.
how is horripilation used?
… I have often wandered round other reputedly haunted places, especially in the vicinity of mills and local stream meets and in many have experienced that same horripilation of the flesh ….
I can鈥檛 have been the only person who spent the evening in a pretty much constant state of horripilation.
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.