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Eponyms

This week's words
serendipity
mithridatism
rhadamanthine
elysian
icarian


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Illustrated words

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(i-KAR-ee-uhn, eye-)

MEANING:

adjective: Of or relating to an over-ambitious attempt that ends in ruin.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Icarus in Greek mythology who flew so high that the sun melted the wax holding his artificial wings. Icarus plunged to his death into the sea. Earliest documented use: 1595.

USAGE:

"But the film is a warning about flying too high. Philippe Petit may have succeeded in the high wire walk, but he suffers an Icarian fall in his personal life."
Monica Heisey; Masterwork on Wire; The Queen's Journal (Kingston, Canada); Nov 14, 2008.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: