A.Word.A.Day --orchidacity

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Sep 7, 2022

This week’s theme
Flowers

This week’s words
roseate
daisy-chain
orchidacity
tall poppy
wallflower

Ballerina Orchid
See monkey face orchid, angel orchid, white egret orchid, and more here

Photo: Areafin tawfiq / Wikimedia

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

orchidacity

PRONUNCIATION:

(or-ki-DAS-i-tee)

MEANING:

noun: Showiness.

ETYMOLOGY:

From the large and showy flowers in the orchid family. From Latin orchis (orchid), from Greek orkhis (testicle, orchid, from the shape of its tubers). Earliest documented use: 1897. A related word is orchidaceous.

USAGE:

“Where orchidacity is the fashion homespun leaves one unsatisfied.”
James Agate; Ego 9; Harrap; 1948.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it. -Edith Sitwell, poet (7 Sep 1887-1964)

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