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A.Word.A.Day--nonesuch

nonesuch also nonsuch (NUN-such) noun

A person or thing without an equal.

[From none, from Middle English non, from Old English nan + such, Middle English such, from Old English swelce.]

"Truth is, he's (Noel Perrin) a nonesuch, combining the `humorous stoicism' that he calls `the basic New England characteristic' with a hands-on approach to rural living."
Frank Levering; Book World: Noel Perrin: Back Down On the Farm; The Washington Post; Dec 9, 1991.

"She was a nonesuch, a nonpareil, yet seemed
Pallid and slightly wilted now, a flower
Long after the rainy season."
David Wagoner; The Return of Orpheus, Poetry (Chicago); Jan 1998.

It takes all kinds to make the world and it shows in this week's selection of words. For the next five days we'll see words to describe people of various persuasions. You may meet them at work or on a train, in a park or in a house next door--almost anywhere on earth. Here's a fun exercise for you: find at least one person epitomizing the day's word, every day this week. With some six billion of us around there can't be any excuse for insufficient data. -Anu

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