This week's theme: words borrowed from other languages. adobe (uh-DO-bee) noun
1. An unburned, sun-dried brick made of clay and straw. 2. Silt or clay deposited by rivers, from which such bricks are made. 3. A building made of such material. [Via Spanish and Arabic from Coptic tobe (brick). Coptic is the classical language of Egypt, a form of Egyptian with heavy influence from Greek.] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=adobe -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "When the earthquakes of Sept. 19 and 20 struck, walls collapsed and roofs caved in. Many people were crushed under the thick adobe walls, and survivors have been left to set up makeshift shelters amid the rubble or in the street." Steve Frazier; Mexican Property Seizures After Quake Infuriate Owners; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Nov 7, 1985. Erratum: Yesterday's Emily Dickinson quotation should have read: The soul should always stand ajar. That if the heaven inquire, He will not be obliged to wait, Or shy of troubling her. Sponsors' Messages: Subscribe to http://delanceyplace.com -- a carefully selected non-fiction book excerpt free to your email each day. It's the thinking person's daily quotation. Customize Thinking Putty as a Corporate Gift! Adult-sized handfuls, fun colors, and your own full color artwork: http://puttyworld.com/custom.html Subscribe to any of the French, German, Italian or Spanish Champs-Elysees Audio Magazines and get an extra issue free: http://web.champs-elysees.com/wsmith8 ............................................................................ All ideas are already in the brain, just as all statues are in the marble. -Carlo Dossi, author and diplomat (1849-1910) Share the magic of words. Send a gift sub: http://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html Remove, change, or subscribe address: http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/adobe.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/adobe.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/adobe.html This message was sent to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]".
