ext_147905 ([identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] 1word1day2013-08-08 07:26 am
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Thursday word: sesquihoral

sesquihoral (ses-kwi-HOR-al) - adj., lasting an hour and a half.


Because sometimes it just sounds better to use one word instead of "an hour and a half." This is one of a family of words using the Latin prefix sesqui-, meaning one-and-a-half of whatever units the root refer to. Cousins include sequipedalian "a foot and a half long," sesquicentennial "a hundred-fiftieth anniversary," and sesquidecury "a set of fifteen." Not coined from Latin roots but rather adopted from Latin sesquihora, the period of an hour and a half. (BTW, I've stopped saying that a word is "borrowed" from another language -- it's not like it can be given back.)

I ended up taking a sesquihoral lunch.

---L.
med_cat: (cat in dress)

[personal profile] med_cat 2013-08-17 01:35 am (UTC)(link)
A fun word, in the same vein as "hebdomadal" ;)
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[personal profile] med_cat 2013-08-17 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
:D