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Apr 30, 2008
This week's theme
Words derived from the names of mythical creatures

This week's words
chimera
argus
centaur
sphinx
harpy
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

centaur

(SEN-tor) Pronunciation Sound Clip

noun:
1. An expert horse rider.
2. An unnatural creation made of disparate entities.

After Centaur, a race of monsters having the torso of a human and lower body of a horse. Also, early Greek literature depicted Centaurs as a tribe from Thessaly whose members were skilled horse riders.

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

"When Claire is on a horse, she loses her limp and is in charge of the universe, a centaur."
Michael Ondaatje; Divisadero; Knopf; 2007.

X-Bonus

Many are concerned about the monuments of the West and the East- to know who built them. For my part, I should like to know who in those days did not build them- who were above such trifling. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)

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