A.Word.A.Day--xerophyte

[Opentarot]

Wordsmith.org

The Magic of Words

Dec 20, 2012

This week's theme
Yours to discover

This week's words
wakerife
quadrennium
subjugate
xerophyte

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

xerophyte

PRONUNCIATION:

(ZEER-uh-fyt)

MEANING:

noun: A plant adapted to growing in a very dry or desert environment.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek xero- (dry) + phyton (plant). Earliest documented use: 1897.

USAGE:

"Saavik's bemused comment when Captain Howe, her former first officer, had sent her a 'get well cactus' was that on Vulcan it was a superfluous xerophyte."
Keith R.A. DeCandido; Star Trek: Tales of the Dominion War; Simon & Schuster; 2004.

Explore "xerophyte" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet (1807-1882)

© 2012 Wordsmith.org