A.Word.A.Day --daedal

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Dec 6, 2021

This week’s theme
Illustrated words

This week’s words
daedal
involute
xylophilous
seraphic
lentic

Illustration: Leah Palmer Preiss

Previous week’s theme
Perfect synonyms

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Words can be enjoyable any time of the year, but this week in A.Word.A.Day is a special treat. As in previous years, I gave the artist Leah Palmer Preiss (curiouser at mindspring.com) five words and this week you get to see what she has done with them.

It’s a feast for the eyes and for the mind. Enjoy!

daedal

PRONUNCIATION:

(DEE-duhl)

MEANING:

adjective: Ingenious; skillful; intricate; artistic.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin daedalus (skillful), from Greek daidalos. Earliest documented use: 1590. A related word is logodaedaly.

NOTES:

In Greek mythology, Daedalus was an architect and craftsman who built the labyrinth for King Minos of Crete. When the king imprisoned him so the knowledge of the labyrinth wouldn’t spread, Daedalus made wings for himself and his son Icarus.

USAGE:

“The best of the projects in the magazine were truly daedal: ingenious, cleverly intricate, and diversified.”
Eric Kraft; Taking Off; St. Martin’s Press; 2014.

See more usage examples of daedal in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

A timid question will always receive a confident answer. -Charles John Darling, lawyer, judge, and politician (6 Dec 1849-1936)

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