sirenic | Word of the Day

February 01, 2019 sirenic [sahy-ren-ik] adjective 1. melodious, tempting, or alluring. word-trends Is "Crude" The Right Word To Use To Describe Someone's Language? in-the-news Why Can't Women Swear? WORD OF THE DAY sirenic continued... QUOTES She sang for an hour. I resigned myself to the spell of her voice--not alone to that sirenic power, but to the pleasure of being close beside her. -- E. W. Olney, "Mrs. Vanderduynck," The Galaxy, June 1876 ORIGIN English Siren (the mythical creature) comes from Greek Seirḗn, which has no reliable etymology. The Sirens first occur in the The Odyssey (book 12); there are only two of them, they are unnamed, and they live on an island yet sit in the middle of a flowery meadow surrounded by the moldering bones of the mortals they have beguiled. What the Sirens tempt Odysseus with is knowledge, irresistible for the curious, restless hero: "We know everything that happened at Troy, what the Argives (Achaeans, Greeks) and Trojans suffered at the will of the gods, and we know everything that happens on the all-nourishing earth." Homer says nothing about the physical appearance of the Sirens—nothing about birds with the torso and arms of a woman, how many Sirens there were, their names and genealogy, all of which are later additions. The suffix -ic, however, has an excellent etymology: it comes from the Proto-Indo-European adjective suffix -ikos. The Greek form of this suffix is -ik ós, in Latin -icus (-ique in French). English -ic may come from the Greek, Latin, or French forms. MORE FOR YOU 1 What Does It Mean To Be Electable? The word electable seems self-explanatory. Technically, it means "capable of, or having a reasonable chance of being elected." But, what are we really talking about when we say that someone is electable? 2 Idioms Used Incorrectly In Famous Situations When idioms are misused, quite a bit can be lost in translation, leaving the audience scratching their heads (we've done a slideshow on that too!). A gaffe between friends is one thing, but what about when the whole world is listening? Pretty embarrassing ... or learning moment? Either way, here are 10 times idioms were used incorrectly in famous situations. 3 Perfect Quotes To Inspire Your Dinner Conversation Stuck for small talk? Take some advice from these famous authors and spice up your conversation. 4 The Social Justice Dictionary You Didn't Know You Needed The language we use to describe social justice changes just as quickly as our advancements do, and it can be hard to keep up. So, we've collected some of the terms and phrases that make up social justice, which is itself a catch-all phrase for movements that work toward greater equality. 5 Suspicious Slang Your Kids Are Using Kids are crafty—and so they've invented some new words to use in times of exasperation, anger, or when just trying to fit in. Do you know what these slang words mean? © 2018 Dictionary.com, LLC. ABOUT CONTACT You are subscribed to the Word of the Day as: matzom229@gmail.com Subscriber since: September 06, 2017 Unsubscribe Dictionary.com, LLC. 555 12th Street Suite 500 Oakland CA 94607 Manage your subscription Terms & Privacy