A.Word.A.Day Archives
from https://wordsmith.org/awad

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Date: Thu Oct  1 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--venous
X-Bonus: In our world of big names, curiously, our true heroes tend to be anonymous. In this life of illusion and quasi-illusion, the person with solid virtues who can be admired for something more substantial than his well-knownness often proves to be the unsung hero: the teacher, the nurse, the mother, the honest cop, the hard worker at lonely, underpaid, unglamorous, unpublicized jobs. -Daniel J Boorstin, historian, professor, attorney, and writer (1 Oct 1914-2004)

This week's theme: A change of character: Act I


venous (VEE-nuhs) adjective

   Relating to veins.

[From Latin vena (vein). Earliest documented use: 1626.]

NOTES: The usage example below describes Marlene Dumas's painting "The Painter"
(1994), based on a photograph of her daughter after finger painting.
Venous blood is dark red, not blue; veins can appear blue through skin
because of how light interacts with tissue.

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/venous

"Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time", c. 1545 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/venous_large.jpg
Venus takes center stage, while Father Time (top right) lends a visibly venous hand
Art: Agnolo Bronzino https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/bronzino-an-allegory-with-venus-and-cupid

  "Her hands are stained up to the wrist -- her left hand carmine red, the
   right venous blue -- and you cannot be sure whether she has spent the
   previous few minutes finger painting in the playroom or dousing her hands
   in blood."
   Deborah Solomon; Figuring Marlene Dumas; The New York Times Magazine;
   Jun 15, 2008.

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Date: Fri Oct  2 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--veracity
X-Bonus: Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought. -Graham Greene, novelist and journalist (2 Oct 1904-1991)

This week's theme: A change of character: Act I


veracity (vuh-RAS-i-tee) noun

   1. Truthfulness or accuracy.
   2. Something true; a truth.

[From Latin verax (truthful), from verus (true). Earliest documented use: 1614.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/veracity

"Truth Coming Out of Her Well", 1896 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/veracity_large.jpg
The painting alludes to a saying by the philosopher Democritus, "Of truth we know nothing, for truth is in a well."
Art: Jean-Léon Gérôme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_Coming_Out_of_Her_Well

  "Though some doubt the story's veracity, [Ernest] Shackleton is said to have
   recruited his compadres by placing in a newspaper an advert that read,
   'Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months
   of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and
   recognition in case of success.'"
   Patience and Endurance; The Economist (London, UK); Mar 12, 2022.