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Jun 12, 2003

This week's theme
Yours to discover

This week's words
extemporize
impresario
macroscopic
postdiluvian
plausive

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A.Word.A.Day--postdiluvian

postdiluvian (post-di-LOO-vee-uhn) adjective

Pertaining to the period after the Biblical flood or any great flood.

noun

Someone or something in the period after the Biblical flood or any large flood.

[From Latin post- (after) + diluvium (flood), from diluere (to wash away), from di- + -luere (to wash), combining form of lavere (to wash). Other words derived from the same root are: deluge, dilute, and lotion.]

A related word is antediluvian (related to the period before the Biblical flood). It is also used to apply to someone or something very old or old-fashioned, e.g. antediluvian CEO or antediluvian ideas.

"But that was in the good old days. Now, our postdiluvian world is swamped with hundreds of different kinds of the things ..."
Poseur Index: Rubber Place Mats; The Guardian (London, UK); Mar 20, 1998.

"Just as important, the flood damage inspired Congress to earmark almost $200 million to get Yosemite back into shape, finally making it possible to take action on the General Management Plan. Central to the agency's blueprint for the postdiluvian Yosemite is the phased removal of private automobiles, starting by requiring reservations for parking inside the valley boundaries and eliminating day-use auto touring."
B.J. Bergman; Yosemite Turns a Corner; Sierra (San Francisco, California); May/Jun 1998.

This week's theme: yours to discover.

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