imbricate
[email protected] 26 Oct 2007 10:40:15 -0000
| Newsgroups | gmane.culture.language.word-of-the-day |
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The Word of the Day for October 26 is:=20
imbricate \IM-brih-kut\ adjective
: lying lapped over each other in regular order
Example sentence:
The antique mirror had tiny imbricate gold squares around its =
edge.
Did you know?
The ancient Romans knew how to keep the interior of their vill=
as dry when it rained. They covered their roofs with overlapping curved =
tiles so the =E2=80=9Cimber=E2=80=9D (Latin for "pelting rain" or =E2=80=
=9Crain shower=E2=80=9D) couldn't seep in. The tiles were, in effect, "r=
ain tiles," so the Romans called them =E2=80=9Cimbrices=E2=80=9D (singul=
ar =E2=80=9Cimbrex=E2=80=9D). The verb for installing the tiles was =E2=80=
=9Cimbricare,=E2=80=9D and English speakers used its past participle --=
=E2=80=9Cimbricatus=E2=80=9D -- to create "imbricate," which was first =
used as adjective meaning "overlapping (like roof tiles)" and later beca=
me a verb meaning "to overlap."
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