Cross Words: Erose

Erose

[i-rohs] adjective 1. uneven, as if gnawed away; 2. botany. having the margin irregularly incised, as if gnawed, as a leaf.

Etymology: L erosus, pp. of erodere. The dictionary tells me to see erode, which also comes from the Latin erodere. The prefix e- means "out" or "off" and rodere means "to gnaw." I'm surprised that the etymology for erode ends with "see RAT," but then I realize that "rodent" must be related as well! Sure enough, "rodent" comes from the Latin rodens, the prp. of rodere.

(Photo "Jagged, Yet Smooth" CC Flickr user Starfires. Thanks!)

Cross Words: Striae

striae

[strahy-ee] noun 1. slight or narrow furrows, ridges, stripes, or streaks, esp. many in parallel arrangement: striae of muscle fiber. (Plural form of stria. See dictionary.com page for unadulterated definition.)

Etymology: From classical Latin stria, meaning "furrow, channel, flute of column." The etymology seems to be a bit complicated, and I would encourage you to check it out for yourself.

Found in Fearsomely Frightful Crosswords from The New York Times. Puzzle #102. "Narrow grooves."

(Photo by Flickr user Roger Smith. Thanks, Roger!)

Cross Words: Rime

rime

[rahym] noun 1. Frost. "An opaque coating of tiny, white, granular ice particles, caused by the rapid freezing of supercooled water droplets on impact with an object." (Dictionary.com). verb 1. to cover with rime.

Etymology: Etymonline.com doesn't tell us much, but my trusty Webster's New World College Dictionary (4th Ed.) traces the word back to OE hrinan, meaning "to touch." Cool.

(Photo by Flickr user scottshephard, who is also my dad.)

New Feature: Cross Words

I have become addicted to crossword puzzles. I am supposed to be doing classwork, planning a wedding, and paying attention to my fiance, but the only thing that seems to interest me these days is putting letters in little boxes.

In order to justify this behavior, I thought I should highlight crossword puzzles' vocabulary-building power. So, I am starting a new series called Cross Words. These will be posts highlighting words that I learned while attempting to solve these infernal little puzzles. They will include links to dictionary.com and etymonline.com, two essential vocabulary-building websites.

Entry #1, jape, can be found below. Enjoy!

(Photo by Flickr user Jessie Whittle. Thanks, Jessie!)

Cross Words: Jape

jape

[jeyp] verb 1. to joke; jest 2. to play tricks. 3. to make fun of, mock (now rare). noun 1. a joke or jest. (Dictionary.com page)

Etymology: Possibly from O.Fr japer, meaning "to howl."

(Photo By Flickr user patries71, CC)