Words for Wednesday

By fromskilledhands ( March 3, 2010 at 10:35 am) · Filed under Cuyahoga Valley, Words for Wednesday, , ,

Snow near Elements Gallery, Peninsula, OH

The quality of the light has changed in my Valley. The heavier tones of Winter are being replaced by the lightness of Spring.  That does not mean that the 24″ of snow on the ground won’t have a topping of more white stuff. It does, however, signify that there is plenty of mud underneath just waiting to be caked on the dogs’ feet.

Nuthatches, woodpeckers, juncos, tufted titmice, chickadees, finches and brilliant red cardinals are visiting the feeders, singing the songs that suggest that Spring is on it’s way.

My Word-A-Day calendar has brought pages of words to me, some new, others, old friends.  Here’s a sampling:

**Conventicle: a noun.  1. An assembly of an irregular or unlawful character. 2. an assembly for religious worship, especially a meeting for worship not sanctioned by law. 3. a meetinghouse

**Fulgent: an adjective. Dazzingly bright: radiant.

**Parry: a verb. 1. To ward off a weapon or blow. 2. to evade especially by an adroit answer.

**Infix: a noun.  A derivational or inflectional affix appearing in the body of a word

**Clepe: a verb.  To name or call

**Rectitudinous: an adjective. 1. Characterized by straightness or moral integrity. 2. piously self-righteous.

**Harbinger: a noun.  1. A person who goes ahead and makes known the approach of another, herald. 2. anything that foreshadows a future event; omen; sign; 3.  a person sent in advance of troops, a royal train etc., to provide secure lodgings or other accommodations.

As always, feel free to leave me a comment, or a stone (o), to let me know you’ve stopped by.

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9 comments »

  1. Laura Parriish said,

    March 3, 2010 @ 10:43 am

    That’s ME!! I’m the HARBINGER OF SPRING!!

  2. patry said,

    March 3, 2010 @ 11:27 am

    My favorites are fulgent and harbinger. I’ll make it a point to use both today.

  3. Eryl said,

    March 3, 2010 @ 8:52 pm

    How lovely to hear the light is changing, it will soon be fulgent!

  4. fromskilledhands said,

    March 3, 2010 @ 8:58 pm

    I was going to put fulgent in the post—what a great word!–but I thought others would do it for me and I am not disappointed!

  5. rudee said,

    March 4, 2010 @ 12:51 am

    Look at the root of conventicle. I’m going to have a discussion about this word with my friend, the nun.

    I love your photo, Debra. Come. On. Spring!

  6. Attila the Mom said,

    March 4, 2010 @ 1:08 am

    Fulgent and Clepe…now those are new. Thanks so much for posting them!

  7. Mary Ann said,

    March 4, 2010 @ 8:23 am

    Clepe — never heard that word before today. Thanks!

    Here’s hoping the sun shines brightly on your snow today.

  8. ds said,

    March 6, 2010 @ 1:37 am

    What great words! I love the irony of “conventicle”, the feel of “fulgent” (now I know where “effulgence’ comes from!), and the Chaucerian tone of “clepe”.
    Thanks for the fun vocabulary lesson!

  9. Lana said,

    March 7, 2010 @ 2:32 pm

    65F here & sunny today, fortunately! I was starting to lose hope! We even had breakfast out on the deck for the first time in….in….forever, it seems!

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