每日一词：gyre（转自 韦氏词典）

原文链接

原文链接


Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for July 23, 2020 is:

gyre • \JYRE\  • noun

: a circular or spiral motion or form; especially : a giant circular oceanic surface current

Examples:

Sophia will be focusing her graduate studies on the effects of ocean gyres on North America’s climate.

“The exception has been the Weddell Sea … which retains much of its ice from year to year because of cold winds from the south and a circular current, or gyre, that keeps the ice from drifting into warmer waters that would cause it to melt more.” — Henry Fountain, The New York Times, 17 June 2020

Did you know?

William Butler Yeats opens his 1920 poem, “The Second Coming,” with the following lines: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre / The falcon cannot hear the falconer; / Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world….” Often found in poetic or literary contexts as an alternative to the more familiar circle or spiral, gyre comes via the Latin gyrus from the Greek gyros, meaning “ring” or “circle.” Gyre is also frequently encountered as an oceanographic term that refers to vast circular systems of ocean currents, such as the North Atlantic Gyre, a system of currents circling clockwise between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Gyre is also sometimes used of more localized vortices, such as those produced by whirlpools or tornadoes.

Lake桑

July 23, 2020 at 01:00PM


评论

发表评论

此博客中的热门博文

每日一词：farrago（转自 韦氏词典）

原文链接 原文链接 Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for July 1, 2020 is: farrago • \fuh-RAH-goh\  • noun : a confused mixture : hodgepodge Examples: “Combining these plots is a terrible idea for multiple reasons. One is simply logistical; the fusion turns two improbable but engaging stories into a ludicrous farrago .” — Laura Miller, Slate , 8 Nov. 2019 “Although it’s hard to know anything for sure about North Korea, the fertilizer-plant photo suggests the reporting about Kim over the past few weeks was a farrago of misinformation, non-information, half speculation and outright guessing.” — Paul Farhi, The Washington Post , 5 May 2020 Did you know? Farrago might seem an unlikely relative of farina (the name for the mealy breakfast cereal), but the two terms have their roots in the same Latin noun. Both derive from far , the Latin name for spelt (a type of grain). In Latin, farrago meant “mixed fodder”—cattle feed, that is. It was also used more generally to mean “mixture....
阅读全文

每日一词：olfactory（转自 韦氏词典）

原文链接 原文链接 Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for September 9, 2019 is: olfactory • \ahl-FAK-tuh-ree\  • adjective : of or relating to the sense of smell Examples: “The glands located between the cat’s toes secrete a scent whenever he scratches on objects such as a tree or a scratching post. This activity provides an olfactory territory mark in addition to the visual.” — Pam Johnson-Bennett, Think Like a Cat , 2011 “Young male anglerfish face the challenge of finding a mate in the ocean’s vastness. They have large olfactory organs, which suggests that suitors follow a trail of pheromones .” — William J. Broad, The New York Times , 29 July 2019 Did you know? Olfactory derives from the past participle of the Latin olfacere (“to smell”), which was formed from the verb olēre (“to give off a smell”) and facere (“to do”). Olfactory is a word that often appears in scientific contexts (as in “olfactory nerves,” the nerves that pass from the nose to the brain and contain t...
阅读全文

每日一词：pamphleteer（转自 韦氏词典）

原文链接 原文链接 Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for October 27, 2018 is: pamphleteer • \pam-fluh-TEER\  • verb 1 : to write and publish pamphlets 2 : to engage in partisan arguments indirectly in writings Examples: Though he is remembered today for his novels and essays, George Orwell was also known to pamphleteer for causes important to him. “After the pamphlet wars between supporters of Louis XIII and Marie de Medicis, in 1618-19, several pamphleteers were sentenced to death, and the attempt to arrest unlicensed booksellers led many to flee the country. More broadly, the political chaos brought about by pamphleteering in France contributed to the absolutism of Louis XIV, who used the printing press as a tool of state control.” — Stephen Marche, The New Yorker , 23 Apr. 2018 Did you know? Pamphlets—unbound printed publications with no covers or with paper covers—are published about all kinds of subjects, but our word pamphlet traces back to one particular document. I...
阅读全文