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Nov 6, 2024
This week’s themeIdioms & metaphors This week’s words security blanket incandescent
Original carbon-filament bulb from Thomas Edison’s shop in Menlo Park, 1879
Photo: Terren
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargincandescent
PRONUNCIATION:
MEANING:
adjective: 1. Emitting light when heated. 2. Extremely bright. 3. Displaying intense emotion, such as anger, affection, or zeal. ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin incandescere (to become hot, glow), from in- (intensive
prefix) + candere (to shine or glow), from candidus (white). Ultimately
from the Indo-European root kand- (to shine) which also gave us candle,
incense, candid, candida, candent,
and candidate (in reference to white togas worn by Romans seeking office).
Earliest documented use: 1794.
USAGE:
“Thomas Edison proved the superiority of incandescent lighting. His
company eventually became General Electric, a beacon of American
enterprise throughout the 20th century.” Bubbleology; The Economist (London, UK); Aug 10, 2024. “Tory MPs ... are incandescent that their leaders have recklessly inflicted economic pain on voters.” Camilla Cavendish; This is Starmer’s Moment, but Victory Is Not Yet Assured; Financial Times (London, UK); Oct 1, 2022. See more usage examples of incandescent in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I don't think that combat has ever been written about truthfully; it has
always been described in terms of bravery and cowardice. I won't even
accept these words as terms of human reference any more. And anyway, hell,
they don't even apply to what, in actual fact, modern warfare has become.
-James Jones, novelist (6 Nov 1921-1977)
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