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#99619 03/29/03 02:21 AM
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From an essay by Emerson on manners:
"The chiefs of savage tribes have distinguished themselves in London and Paris, by the purity of their tournure. "
It is obviously of French origin, but the onlline French dictionaries did not have it. My dictionary and AHD did not have it. But ARTFL Webster 1913 gave :
ournure (Page: 1522)

Tour*nure" (?), n. [F., fr. tourner to turn.]

1. Turn; contour; figure.

2. Any device used by women to expand the skirt of a dress below the waist; a bustle.

But "figure" doesn't seem "le mot juste". "bearing" seems
closer, but I'm not satisfied with it. Let's hear some
suggestions, please.


#99620 03/29/03 03:45 AM
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? mien, stature
?? conduct,

[aside] Never heard of this word before, wwh. Is it now absorbed into english? Reminds me of tourniquet which probably shares the root word with tournure.

#99621 03/29/03 03:56 AM
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My Larousse's paperpack dictionary defines it as follows:

tournure f. turn, direction, course; turning, shape, form, figure


#99622 03/29/03 05:10 AM
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1. (Graceful) manner or bearing; cultivated address.
2. The turning of language or of a phrase; mode of expression. rare.
3. Contour, outline, shape (of a limb, etc.).


#99623 03/29/03 08:33 AM
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Here's a paste from Luciferous Logolepsy:

tournure
n. - grace; poise; expressive phrase.





#99624 03/29/03 10:55 AM
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(Graceful) manner or bearing; cultivated address.

?comportment




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