Word of the day April 21
 

The Word of the Day for April 21 is:

limn • \LIM\ • (verb) 1. to draw or paint on a surface; 2. to outline in clear sharp detail; delineate; 3. describe

A little more information about today’s word:
Allow us to shed some light on the history of "limn," a word with lustrous origins. "Limn" traces to the Middle French verb "enluminer" and ultimately to the Latin "illuminare," which means "to illuminate." Its use as an English verb dates from the days of Middle English; at first, "limn" referred to the action of illuminating (that is, decorating) medieval manuscripts with gold, silver, or brilliant colors. William Shakespeare extended the term to painting in his poem Venus and Adonis: "Look when a painter would surpass the life / In limning out a well-proportioned steed . . . ."

My sentence (using definition #2):
In her novel, Deborah limns a vivid picture of life in the rural America of the 1950s.

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

In costume design class the professor keeps telling me not to limn the borders of the costumes.

To pass time during my chemistry exam, I limnned the desk I was sitting at.

When you're writing it's very important to limn the characters in your story so that people have a clear idea of who they are.

Maybe if Marlene Dietrich had uttered:” limn me alone”, instead of: “I vant to be alone”, she would not be remembered at all.

In order to teach someone how to do something, you must limn exactly what they have to do.

Venessa stood atop the hill and limmed the valley below in her sketchpad.

William Safire did an interesting thing on 'limn' in the New York Times Magazine a few months ago stating that the 3rd definition listed above(:describe) has become the most popular and the word has come to be used to mean illuminate or delineate most often.

As in, "I would love to limn all the positive qualities of Jadzia's tits, but it would take all day."

The plans to the new house were limmed out on the architect's blue print.

Word of the day April 22
 

The Word of the Day for April 22 is:

revenant • \REH-vuh-nunt\ • (noun) one that returns after death or a long absence

A little more information about today’s word:
Frightening or friendly, the classic revenant is a ghost, a spectre returning from the dead. Sir Walter Scott, in his novel the Fair Maid of Perth used it that way in 1828, in one of the earliest uses of the word in English. Somewhat chillingly he wrote, "Nor of taking the fatal leap, had my revenant the slightest recollection." We borrowed "revenant" from the French, who created it from their verb "revenir," which means simply "to return" (as does its Latin ancestor, "revenire"). Later we appended a more earthly meaning; a revenant can be any flesh-and-blood returnee when we use it simply to mean a person who shows up after a long absence.*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

My sentence:
The play is about a family of revenants who come back to their ancestral home after years of political exile.

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

hrmmm revenant aint in my dictionary. ok

here's my sentence.

One day, Jesus will revenenant and he wont be happy.


can tomorrow's word be hullabaloo?

I was waiting for the "Word of the Day" to start again.

So where's the sentence? ;)

I never did one before... I just enjoyed reading them.

New Orleans is a popular place for revenants because of the large following of voodoo.

in case of revenance, this car will be unmanned.

I am so glad that the TFP now fits the definition of a revenant.

My favorite scene in "Hamlet" is when his revenant father warns of peril.

Nice cognate with the French verb <i>revenir</i>, to return.

My revenant knowlege of the French language is otherwise useless to me!

WK was waiting for the revenant of the word of the day.

I was stopped at a red light in my chevette and this guy pulled up next to me in a porche. He was revenant so loud that I could not here the Neil Diamond on my 8-track.

When I go kayaking, I prefer the revenant the lake.

The sun is revenant on this day...

After the civil war there were many revenants who returned to find the places they'd left very different.

The revenant's return incited less hullabaloo than he hoped.

Yea! I used two at once.

Revenant's are some of the toughest undead creatures to face in D&D.

Word of the day April 23
 

The Word of the Day for April 23 is:

sciolism • \SYE-uh-lih-zum\ • (noun) a superficial show of learning

A little more information about today’s word:
"Sciolism" comes from the Late Latin "sciolus," which means "smatterer" (or "one who speaks with spotty or superficial knowledge"). "Sciolus" comes from the diminutive of the Latin "scius," meaning "knowing," which itself comes from the verb "scire," meaning "to know." Of course, if you know something about Latin roots, you know that "scire" is the source of many other English words, including "science," "prescience" ("foreknowledge"), "nescience" ("lack of knowledge"), and "conscience."

My sentence:
The grad students in the corner of the cafe were engaged in a display of sciolism, tossing around trendy academic terms and evoking obscure writers.

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

All too often what is presented as learned speech these days, especially on television, is strictly sciolism.

My sciolism baggy pants that hang so low they
show my underwear, just basic Levi’s will do for me.

Being in college, I notice too many people exhibiting sciolism by using words that they obviously don't know the proper meaning of.

I see a lot of people practicing sciolism when they read the word of the day thread.

Sciolism is great practice for Scrabble!

Our work-study student is usually so engrossed in a display of sciolism that he never really gets any true work done.

When I hang out with my engineering friends we can get a little sciolistic with our obscure knowledge.

When I don't know what I'm talking about, I put on a great show of sciolism in hopes that people won't notice I'm just being pedantic.

damn sciolists! get off my front porch before i sic 'bubba' on you! and take your prosthelytizing literature with you!

Word of the day April 24
 

The Word of the Day for April 24 is:

roister • \ROY-ster\ • (verb) to engage in noisy revelry; carouse

A little more information about today’s word:
As Hugo Williams asserts in The Times Literary Supplement (November 15, 1991), roistering tends to be "funnier, sillier and less harmful than standard hooliganism, being based on nonsense rather than violence." Roisterers might be chagrined to learn that the word "roister" derives from a Middle French word that means "lout" or "boor" ("rustre"). Ultimately, however, it is from the fairly neutral Latin word "rusticus," meaning "rural." In the 16th century, the original English verb was simply "roist," and one who roisted was a "roister." Later, we changed the verb to "roister" and the corresponding noun to "roisterer."

My sentence:
Chandra didn't get much sleep last night—her neighbors were roistering until the wee hours of the morning, with a good deal of laughing and singing.

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

Hey, that's the perfect word for today!

Today's my birthday (see the bottom of the front page--my name in lights!--<a href="http://www.tfproject.org">http://www.tfproject.org</a>), and I intend to <i>ROISTER</i>!

I suspect the the D.C. get-to-gether of TFP will have some serious roistering.

i used to roister in my youth.