Wednesday, March 21, 2012

~ Wondrous Words Wednesday ~

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bermudaonion's Weblog where we share words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Feel free to join in the fun (please do!) Be sure to leave a link to your post over at Bermudaonion's Weblog.

The following words are from The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson :


" As the seasonal sybarites have drifted away to the next event. To a more fashionable spot for September or to the daily work that made these sunny weeks possible, we have stayed on.”

1. Sybarite
     : a person devoted to luxury and pleasure.


"The susurration in the trees on it‘s land was their childhood music, a magical rustling that seemed to cool the hottest afternoon."

2. Susurration
     : a soft murmur, whisper


" Through the Garden of Sound, where he talked, unexpectedly, about Debussy; through the Garden of Scent, where the cold air was spring-sharp with narcissi; on through the Gardens of Color and Touch, where we discussed synesthesia, and settled on Fridays being orange and shiny-smooth. .”

3. Synesthesia
     : a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualization of a certain color


" “We could find her a nice spot.”
“A plinth!”
He found her one, too: a plain cube of sandstone. "

4. Plinth
     : a slab-like member beneath the base of a column or pier
     : Also called plinth course, a projecting course of stones at the base of a wall; earth table.


“ A Greek boy, pox-ridden with lichen, cast an anguished look back t the house from the parterre; what should perhaps have been a parting glance had it not been petrified into a stare. "

5. Parterre
     : an ornamental arrangement of flower beds of different shapes and sizes.


" It was enough to make it necessary for her to sit down (a rare event) with a restorative cup of lavendar tisane. "

6. Tisane
     : an infusion (as of dried herbs) used as a beverage or for medicinal effects


" The lamplight went cloudy as if the bulb was glowing from inside a shell, leaving the room nacreous as an early morning when mist still covers the sun. "

7. Nacreous
     : having the luster of mother of pearl; pearlescent; a milky opalescent (or opaline) luster

16 comments:

  1. I'm glad I came to your post because I am planning to get this book very soon! Have you been to the author's blog? She is living in Provence and the blog has really beautiful photos all over it :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really interesting words, I've had my eyes on this novel for a while.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a selection of very interesting words. Some I knew, some I didn't. I'd certainly like to become a sybarite!

    ReplyDelete
  4. New follower here! What soft and sensuous sounding s-words!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I knew a couple of the words, but most are new to me. Sybarite is interesting - I hope there aren't too many people like that.

    ReplyDelete
  6. 'Susurration' is a GREAT word! Wow -- I love how it sounds -- very...what's the word for a word that sounds like a sound? Anyway, I love that you highlighted these -- I had a fun time with The Lantern last summer and I hope you're enjoying it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I knew a few of these, but some were very new to me. I also love the word susurration, and have to agree with Audra's comment. Great words today!

    ReplyDelete
  8. LIBBY: Thank you for visiting! I don't think I've been to Deborah Lawrenson's blog...maybe when The Lantern first appeared on the blogs. I'd love to see her photos so I'm going to check out her blog soon!

    I'm glad you're going to read The Lantern, it's very good!

    ReplyDelete
  9. TEA: This book is very well-written and the author uses some wonderful words that are new for me! I've wanted to read The Lantern since it first appeared on the book blogs.
    I hope you have the chance to read it soon and like it when you do!

    ReplyDelete
  10. LOUISE: A few of the words in my post I recognized but wasn't 100% sure of the meaning. SYbarite I didn't know at all but I sure your sentiment, I'd love to be a sybarite, at least for a vacation period!

    ReplyDelete
  11. SIM: Nice to meet you. Thank you for visiting my blog! SOme great "S" words appear in The Lantern!

    ReplyDelete
  12. BERMUDAONION:
    I wasn't familiar with sybarite but living like this regularly would become boring after a while, I think - what's there to look forward to?!

    ReplyDelete
  13. AUDRA: I think you mean Onomatopoeia and I completely agree! Great catch. I love the word Susurration, except for yesterday when I couldn't get it out of my head and said it to myself so much, it became a mess and sounded like a completely different word! lolol

    Thank you, Audra! I am enjoying The Lantern although I'm almosty finished and I JUST WANT TO KNOW what the mystery is!! And if my 'guess' is correct! But overall it's very good.

    ReplyDelete
  14. ZIBILEE: Susurration is a new favorite of mine. I look up the meaning of words I don't know at all, words that are familiar but I'm not sure they means what I think they mean and also words I know but their use in the book doesn't jive with the meaning I know... I think I just got a a clue to why it sometimes takes me a long time to read a book! lol

    Thank you for visiting, Zibilee :o)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I enjoyed her writing and seeing these words used in her book.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I think I had "plinth" for a blog post vocab list once and happily, it is one I still remember. Such fun.

    ReplyDelete