A.Word.A.Day --anserine

A.Word.A.Day

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Jul 27, 2011

This week's theme
Animal words that are used metaphorically

This week's words
hircine
porcine
anserine
bovine
pavonine

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

anserine

PRONUNCIATION:

(AN-suh-ryn, -rin)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Of or relating to a goose.
2. Stupid; silly.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin anser (goose). Earliest documented use: 1839.

USAGE:

"The geese take to the air in squadron after squadron, covering the sky with a glorious anserine calligraphy."
Simon Barnes; 30,000 Honking, Flapping Reasons; The Times (London, UK); Jan 21, 2006.

"The Tory shot back, 'Well, I've listened to your candidates, and they're simply anserine.'"
John Worsley Simpson; Election Enhances Word Power of All Political Parties; National Post (Canada); Jul 3, 2004.

See more usage examples of anserine in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry. -William Butler Yeats, writer, Nobel laureate (1865-1939)

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