This week’s theme
Toponyms

This week’s words
sybaritic
dalmatic
sardine
frieze
pierian


This week’s comments
AWADmail 774

Next week’s theme
Ugly words

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(py-EER-ee-uhn)

MEANING:

adjective: Relating to learning or poetry.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Pieria, a region in Greece. In Greek mythology, Pieria was home to a spring that was sacred to the Muses and inspired anyone who drank from it. Earliest documented use: 1591.

NOTES:

Alexander Pope in his poem “An Essay on Criticism” (1709) wrote
“A little learning is a dang’rous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.”

USAGE:

“After I had listed my courses: English, math, and science, he said, ‘I see you have begun to drink at the Pierian Spring. In time your appetite will become insatiable.’”
Helen Hickok; Short Stories; Lulu; 2015.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: