A.Word.A.Day --semiquaver

A.Word.A.Day

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Mar 8, 2010

This week's theme
Words related to 16

This week's words
semiquaver
steenth
armageddon
lincolnesque
trichotillomania

Semiquavers

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Next week marks the sexdecennial of Wordsmith.org. Sixteen years ago, on March 14, 1994, I shared the first word, zephyr (a gentle breeze) with a handful of friends.

Our circle has grown to 900,000 readers in 200 countries, but we still have the same love for words. And we're still eager to share them with you every day.

This reader community is what makes Wordsmith.org. Thank you for being part of it!

To celebrate those 16 years, all five words featured this week will have some connection with the number 16.

semiquaver

PRONUNCIATION:

(SEM-ee-kway-vuhr)

MEANING:

noun: In music, a note having the time value of one-sixteenth of a whole note.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin semi- (half) + quaver (an eighth note). Also called demiquaver. Also see hemidemisemiquaver.

USAGE:

"Synchronising film and music is tough enough in a modern movie, but spare a semiquaver of sympathy for Dmitri Shostakovich."
Conrad Walters; Film and Music Marry as Composer Settles Old Score; The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Nov 5, 2008.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I have never gone to sleep with a grievance against anyone. And, as far as I could, I have never let anyone go to sleep with a grievance against me. -Abba Agathon, monk (4th/5th century)

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