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A.Word.A.Day--potamic

potamic (po-TAM-ik) adjective

Relating to rivers.

[From Greek potamos (river). Hippopotamus comes from the same root -- it's literally a river horse: hippos + potamos.]

"This potamic civilization pulsated laboriously around every river meander and through every lift lock required to distribute the system's beneficence, and it followed rather slavishly the natural architecture of river valleys and watersheds." Michael P Conzen; The National Road, or, a Landward Salient For a Potamic People; Geographical Review (New York); Oct 1998.

"The Old World was then entering on the third of the three stages of civilization which Carl Ritter, the geographer, defined as (1) the potamic, -- developed in extensive river valleys, such as those of the Nile, the Tigris and Euphrates, and the Ganges; (2) the thalassic, -- nourished by the influences and commercial stimulations of a great inland sea, like the Mediterranean; and, (3) the oceanic, -- which opened to Europe when exploration of the broad Atlantic was launched from its western coast." Josephus Nelson Larned; English Leadership; C.A. Nichols Company; 1918.

This week's theme: miscellaneous words.

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