This week's theme
Words coined after animals

This week's words
squirrelly
canaille
monkeyshine
puce
toady

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(pyoos)

MEANING:

noun: A dark red or brownish purple color.
adjective: Of this color.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French puce (flea), from Latin pulex (flea). Earliest documented use: 1778. Other terms coined after the flea are flea market, a direct translation of French marché aux puces and ukulele (from Hawaiian, literally leaping flea, perhaps from the rapid motion of the fingers in playing it).

USAGE:

"An increasingly puce Mr Farage complained about Britain's loss of sovereignty."
The Third Man; The Economist (London, UK); Mar 29, 2014.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: