Wordsmith.org: the magic of words


A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact  


Home

Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ



Apr 22, 2013
This week's theme
Onomatopoeic words

This week's words
bombilate
fanfaron
cachinnate
fillip
brouhaha

Send a gift that
keeps on giving,
all year long:
A gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day or the gift of books
Bookmark and Share Facebook Twitter Digg MySpace Bookmark and Share
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

Bees buzz, clocks go tick-tock, and train engines hiss (or used to). Where there's sound there is onomatopoeia -- our interpretation of the sound in the form of a word (from Greek onoma: name + poiein: to make).

This week we'll see five words coined by imitating the supposed sound of what is being described.

bombilate

PRONUNCIATION:
(BOM-bi-layt)

MEANING:
verb intr.: To make a humming or buzzing noise.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin bombilare to (hum, buzz). Earliest documented use: 1600s.

USAGE:
"The entire building was bombilating like a cicada."
Matt Cantor; Some Cures for Noisy Neighbors; The Berkeley Daily Planet (California); Oct 9, 2008.

See more usage examples of bombilate in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Society is like a lawn, where every roughness is smoothed, every bramble eradicated, and where the eye is delighted by the smiling verdure of a velvet surface; he, however, who would study nature in its wildness and variety, must plunge into the forest, must explore the glen, must stem the torrent, and dare the precipice. -Washington Irving, writer (1783-1859)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith