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🗓️ 16 September 2023
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 16, 2023 is:
mellifluous • \muh-LIFF-luh-wus\ • adjective
Mellifluous is an adjective used in formal speech and writing to describe things with a smooth, flowing sound. It can also be used to mean “filled with something (such as honey) that sweetens,” as in “mellifluous confections.”
// Though not so enchanting as the dawn chorus of early spring, Sasha looks forward to the fall, when the woods ring again with mellifluous birdsong.
Examples:
“‘Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory,’ is an homage to the late Pulitzer Prize-winner, but also a walking meditation. The walls act as an altar—the writings, scripts, maps, drafts, letters and photos are thoughtfully placed assemblages that carry Morrison’s spirit. The author’s mellifluous voice, though subtle, echoes throughout the exhibition space, as an edited interview of Morrison at Boston College plays on repeat.” — Felice León, Essence, 2 Mar. 2023
Did you know?
Have a bee in your bonnet to learn some mellifluous facts? Sweet—we won’t make you comb for them. Mellifluous comes from two Latin roots: the noun mel, meaning “honey,” and the verb fluere, meaning “to flow.” These linguistic components flowed smoothly together into the Late Latin word mellifluus, then continued on into the Middle English word mellyfluous, before crystallizing into the adjective we employ today. As it has for centuries, mellifluous typically and figuratively describes sound, and is often at the tip of the tongues of writers who proclaim that a voice or melody is smooth like molasses (molasses, like mellifluous, is a descendant of the Latin mel). But mellifluous can also be used to describe edibles and potables, such as wine, with a pronounced note of sweetness.
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0:00.0 | It's Merriam Webster's Word of the Day for September 16th. |
0:11.4 | Today's word is Melifluis, spelled M-E-L-L-I-F-L-U-O-U-S. |
0:18.8 | Melifluis is an adjective. |
0:21.2 | It's used in formal speech and writing to describe things with a smooth, flowing sound. |
0:26.3 | It can also be used to mean filled with something such as honey that sweetens, as in Melifluis |
0:32.7 | confections. |
0:33.7 | Here's the word used in a sentence from Essence by Phyllis Leone. |
0:39.2 | Tony Morrison, sites of memory, is an homage to the late Pulitzer Prize winner, but also |
0:45.2 | a walking meditation. |
0:47.5 | The walls act as an altar. |
0:49.7 | The writings, scripts, maps, drafts, letters, and photos are thoughtfully placed assemblages |
0:55.4 | that carry Morrison's spirit. |
0:58.0 | The author's Melifluis voice, though subtle, echoes throughout the exhibition space, as |
1:03.3 | an edited interview of Morrison at Boston College plays on repeat. |
1:09.2 | Have a bee in your bonnet to learn some Melifluis facts? |
1:13.9 | Sweet, we won't make you comb for them. |
1:17.2 | Melifluis comes from two Latin roots, the now male, meaning honey, and the verb fluere, meaning |
1:23.4 | too flow. |
1:25.0 | These linguistic components flowed smoothly together into the late Latin word, Melifluis, |
1:31.5 | then continued on into the middle English word, Melifluis, before carrying into the adjective |
1:38.4 | we employ today. |
1:40.5 | As it has for centuries, Melifluis typically and figuratively describes sound, and is |
... |
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