botryoidal

botryoidal

/ˌbɒtrɪˈɔɪd(ə)l/
adjective
(chiefly of minerals)
having a shape reminiscent of a cluster of grapes.

Origin
Late 18th century: from Greek botruoeidēs (from botrus ‘bunch of grapes’) + -al.

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The geode cracked open to reveal a bunch of botryoidal agate crystals looking like a cluster of grapes. I’m guessing that might be the origin of the shooter marble known as the “aggie” (which early on was actually made from agate mineral).

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I was born in Texas, in a house my parents had purchased for a retirement home. We occasionally traveled back and forth from there to Chicago where my parents ran a china, glassware and tableware (knives, forks, spoons, etc.) store. When I was still very young, still not speaking full sentences, my mom and I returned from a trip to Chicago. My mother told me this story.

As soon as we got into the house, I rushed to the living room, repeating “mambluche, mambluche” over and over again. Mom, naturally didn’t understand. She wondered if I needed to go to the bathroom and forgotten where it was. Directing me there, against my childish wishes, she heard me continue the insistent “mambluche, mambluche”. I succeeded in dragging her back to the living room and pointed to the closet there. “Mambluche, mambluche!”

She opened the closet door and I pointed up to the upper shelf above the coat space and I danced about. “Mambluche! mambluche!”

Still puzzled, she reached up and realized I was after the cake tin. She pulled it down, opened it and set it on the floor. Immediately I got to work pulling out the marbles and pushing them gleefully around the floor.

Kids may not know the right way to say what they want, but they do KNOW what they want.

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perspective

perspective

/pəˈspɛktɪv/
noun
1 mass noun The art of representing three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other.
1.1 The appearance of viewed objects with regard to their relative position, distance from the viewer, etc.

Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense ‘optics’): from medieval Latin perspectiva (ars) ‘(science of) optics’, from perspect- ‘looked at closely’, from the verb perspicere, from per- ‘through’ + specere ‘to look’.

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WotD is skewed. Let’s admit it. All the rest of you get to read an official definition, but then you read my sample and view the word from my perspective (especially in the illustration)!

spiderling

spiderling

/ˈspʌɪdəlɪŋ/
noun
A young spider.

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The problem was never resolved. The spiderling wanted to wear shorts, and his mom started to weave him some, but before she was finished, he molted and she had to start weaving all over again.

achromous

achromous

/eɪˈkrəʊməs/
adjective
rare
Uncoloured; colourless.

Origin
Late 19th century. From post-classical Latin achromos or its etymon ancient Greek ἄχρωμος colourless + -ous. Compare earlier achromatous, and also achromatistous and achroous.

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He worked to be a writer. Sadly, Joe’s prose was achromous and dull. Routinely sprinkling in words which were overused on social media did make him seem trendy so his books sold well.

zygoma

zygoma

/zɪˈɡəʊmə//zʌɪˈɡəʊmə/
noun
Anatomy
The bony arch of the cheek formed by connection of the zygomatic and temporal bones.

Origin
Late 17th century: from Greek zugōma, from zugon ‘yoke’.

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I will simply identify the zygoma as a face bone. Anything more might be deemed “cheeky”.

Delays

I wish to acknowledge that I occasionally overlook parts of my self-imposed regimen of word posting here.

Every day gets quickly filled by preparing the illustration which goes with this post, and the post appears elsewhere, too. Sometimes I simply forget to do the post in the whole sequence of places. This one typically comes last in my sequence…and gets missed as other parts of life begin to crowd in around me.

I admit that the past weekend has been extra challenging as I tried to keep myself busy, avoiding the final days of media churn leading up to the Super Bowl. I guess I distracted myself from this job, too.

At least the SB won’t be a problem for about a year. Let’s see if I can remember my task here.

ravening

ravening

/ˈravənɪŋ/
adjective
(of a ferocious wild animal) extremely hungry and hunting for prey.

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The New England Patriots team proved their ravening-beast pedigree, defeating the Rams in Super Bowl LIII.

cultivar

cultivar

/ˈkʌltɪvɑː/
noun
Botany
A plant variety that has been produced in cultivation by selective breeding. Cultivars are usually designated in the style Taxus baccata ‘Variegata’.
See also variety (sense 2)

Origin
1920s: blend of cultivate and variety.

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The Sumo Citrus™ orange, a non GMO cultivar of the mandarin from Japan is recently available from California growers.

piscivorous

piscivorous

/pɪˈsɪv(ə)rəs/
adjective
Zoology
(of an animal) feeding on fish.

Origin
Mid 17th century: from Latin piscis ‘fish’ + -vorous.

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A shark is a top-tier ocean carnivore, but not limiting itself to a piscivorous diet. But, given the opportunity, a fish becomes a yummy snack.

petition

petition

/pɪˈtɪʃ(ə)n/
noun
A formal written request, typically one signed by many people, appealing to authority in respect of a particular cause.

Origin

Middle English: from Latin petitio(n-), from petit- ‘aimed at, sought, laid claim to’, from the verb petere.

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You may file a petition, even do it often by repetition, but for WotD, you will not be given leave to refocus on a word. There’s been a diktat against that.