Friday, August 17, 2012

crepuscular



crepuscular [krɪˈpʌskyələr] a.

1.) Of or pertaining to twilight.
2.) fig. Resembling or likened to twilight; dim, indistinct. esp. Resembling or likened to the morning twilight as preceding the full light of day; characterized by (as yet) imperfect enlightenment.
3.) Zool. Appearing or active in the twilight.

Etymology: from Latin crepusculum, twilight, a diminutive formation related to creper dusky, dark, and creperum, darkness.

"There is a hollow mountain near the land
of the Cimmerians, and deep within
there is a cave where idle Sleep resides,
his special place, forbidden to the Sun
at any hour from the dawn to dusk;
the earth around it breathes out clouds of fog
through dim, crepuscular light."
(Metamorphoses by Ovid, Charles Martin (trans.), 2004)

(Morphée et Iris, Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, 1811)
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Hi all, I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, but I finally added a link to a random word on the right there, so you should check it out and tell me if it works for you. Thanks for reading!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I knew this one from Spanish. Didn't really know it existed in English. Thanks for posting!

Shaw said...

kristen stewart is crepuscular

DEZMOND said...

love both the sound and the meaning of the word, very sensual. Too bad it brings memories to that horrid film saga ....

D4 said...

I was gonna say exactly what Nathyness said. Well, pretty much anyway, I knew it because of Spanishness.

And the button DOES work. Where'd you get the code? I've been looking for something like that. Not too intently, but I've been searching.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Oh, I was SO way off on this word. I thought it meant a craggy and rough exterior like a barnacle. Live and learn!

demetria said...

Vocabulary building blog - best thing ever! I was a classics major for 2 years. I'm going to start using crepuscular!

D4 said...

Sad it can't be used as a tabs link, I got excited because yours was a plain link and I hadn't seen that one. Ended up just putting it under the archive. Think it works well.

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