A.Word.A.Day --pavonine

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Jul 29, 2011

This week's theme
Animal-related words that are used metaphorically

This week's words
hircine
porcine
anserine
bovine
pavonine

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

pavonine

PRONUNCIATION:

(PAV-uh-nyn)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Of or resembling a peacock.
2. Vain; showy.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin pavo (peacock). Earliest documented use: 1656.

USAGE:

"The artists were attacked for being a narcissistic, pavonine, and self-regarding group."
Arifa Akbar; The Cult of Beauty; The Independent (London, UK); Mar 29, 2011.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience. -Hartley Shawcross, barrister, politician, and prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal (1902-2003)

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