Word of the Week (WOW) – Coterminous

wow

Word of the Week (WOW) is a weekly meme created by Heena Rathore P. It’s a fun way to improve vocabulary by learning new words every week.

To participate, simply do a post with your word and leave the link to your post as a comment on Heena’s WOW post.

Here is my WOW for this week:

coterminous

Word: Coterminous

Part of Speech:  Adjective

(Comparative: more coterminous, Superlative: most coterminous)

Adverb: coterminously or conterminously

 Pronunciation:  co – ter – min – ous (kō-tûr′mə-nəs)

 Meaning:

1. Having the same border or covering the same area

2. Being the same in extent; coextensive in range or scope

Synonyms:  

coetaneous, coeval, coexistent, coexisting, coextensive, coincident, coincidental, concurrent, contemporaneous, contemporary, commensurate, simultaneous, synchronic, synchronous, nearby, close, adjacent, neighbouring, immediate, adjoining, near, proximate,

Antonyms:

asynchronous, noncontemporary, nonsimultaneous, nonsynchronous, distant

Word Origin:

C17: from Latin conterminus, from con- + terminus – end, boundary

Use in a sentence: 

To illustrate the use of this word, here is a short poem, written by Heath Muchena on his blog, I of July:

I say this with some diffidence

that the world is full of struggles for recognition

coterminous with the quest for love and reverence

but also fears of indifference

and tears of rejection

*

This is a lovely poem and shows that the word is not only used in connection with geography.  As does this sentence:

Language and thought are not strictly coterminous.

Now here are a couple of sentences which are about geography:

1. The Guidelines emphasize the importance of coterminous boundaries for agencies working in partnership.

2. Australia is the only country that is coterminous with a continent.

shutterstock_119957359

If you would like to check out more interesting words. then visit Heena’s page:

Word Treasure

Word of the Week (WOW) – Bellicose

wow

Word of the Week (WOW) is a weekly meme created by Heena Rathore P. It’s a fun way to improve vocabulary by learning new words every week.

To participate, simply do a post with your word and leave the link to it as a comment on Heena’s WOW post.

Here is my WOW for this week:

bellicose

Word: Bellicose

Part of Speech: Adjective

(Adverb: Bellicosely.  Noun: Bellicosity)

 Pronunciation: bel – i – kohs  (bel.ɪ.kəʊs)

 Meaning: 

Demonstrating aggression and willingness to fight.

Synonyms:

aggressive, hostile, threatening, antagonastic, trucculent, confrontational, argumentative, pugnacious, quarrelsome, belligerent, militant, combatative

British informal: stroppy, bolshie

N. American informal: strappy

Antonyms:

peaceable, non-aggressive, non-belligerent, incombatative, uncontentious 

Word Origin:  Late Middle English (1400 – 1450) from the Latin bellicosus (from bellum, meaning pertaining to war).

Use in a sentence: 

1. The fans had their say again and attitudes were conversational rather than bellicose and confrontational.

2. The warrior’s words were strident and bellicose.

shutterstock_115210036

If you would like to check out more interesting words then visit Heena’s page:

Word Treasure

Word of the Week (WOW) – Androgynous

wow

Word of the Week (WOW) is a weekly meme created by Heena Rathore P. It’s a fun way to improve vocabulary by learning new words every week.

To participate, simply do a post with your word and leave the link to your post as a comment on Heena’s WOW post.

Here is my WOW for this week:

androgynous

Word: Androgynous

Part of Speech:  Adjective

(Adverb:  Androgynously.  Noun: Androgyny )

 Pronunciation:  an-drog-y-nous  (an-droj’e-nes;  ænˈdrɒdʒ ə nəs)

 Meaning:

1. being both male and female; hermaphroditic.

2. having both masculine and feminine characteristics.

3. having an ambiguous sexual identity.

4. neither clearly masculine nor clearly feminine in appearance:

5. (biology) an individual animal or flower that has both male and female reproductive organs

Synonyms:  

cross-sexual, bisexual, unisexual, epicine, hermaphroditic

Antonyms:

 gendered 

(near antonyms: masculine, feminine)

Word Origin:  

Early 17th century from the Latin androgynus and the Greek androgynos

Use in a sentence: 

1. Rockin’ Reggie had the androgynous look of many rock stars.

2. He was a stunningly adgrogynous dancer.

Androgynous is an interesting word. I can appreciate how well it could be used in Sci-Fi novels and such like, to describe genderless beings.

In botany, androgynous is sometimes used instead of one of its synonyms, hermaphroditic. Examples of plants bearing both male and female reproductve organs include trees like birch, walnut oak and chestnut. The common plant, cuckoo pint, is often chosen as an example of a an androgynous flowering plant.  Here are a couple of pictures of it:

800px-Arum_maculatum_fluy_80_05052007_4
Cuckoo Pint (Arum maculatum) before flowering. Oliver Pichard: Creative Commons
Arum_maculatum9
Cuckoo Pint (Arum maculatum) bearing fruits. Jeffdelange: Creative Commons

If you would like to check out more interesting words then visit Heena’s page:

Word Treasure

Word Of The Week (WOW) – Perspicacious

wow

Word of the Week (WOW) is a weekly meme created by Heena Rathore P. It’s a fun way to improve vocabulary by learning new words every week.

To participate, simply do a post with your word and leave the link to your post as a comment on Heena’s WOW post.

Here is my WOW for this week:

perspicacious

Word: Perspicacious

Part of Speech: Adjective

(Adverb: Perspicaciously; Noun: Perspicaciousness)

Pronunciation: Per-spi –ca -cious (pur – spi -key – shuhs)

Meaning:   Acutely insightful or wise.

Quick in noticing, understanding or judging things accurately

Synonyms:

Perceptive, aware, sharp, keen, acute, alert, penetrating, shrewd, discerning, astute, observant, clear-sighted, percipient, sharp-witted, sagacious

Antonyms:

dull, stupid

Word Origin: 1630’s, formed as an adjective to the Latin perspicax, from perspicere: sharp sighted, having the power to see through

Use in a sentence: 

1. The lawyer was much too perspicacious to be taken in by the spurious document.

2. The event offered a number of interesting facts to the perspicacious reporter.

I rather like this word.  It adds a little more interest to a sentence than just saying smart or sharp, or even wise – in the right setting of course. It wouldn’t suit on every occasion.

If you want to check out more words like this, then visit Heena’s page: Word Treasure.

Have a fun day.