A.Word.A.Day--imbricate

Wordsmith.org

The Magic of Words

May 5, 2010

This week's theme
Verbally speaking

This week's words
asseverate
scarper
imbricate

Missed a word?
Check the archives
chronological
alphabetical
plaintext
or
search the site

---

Discuss
Feedback
RSS/XML

---

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

imbricate

PRONUNCIATION:

(adj: IM-bri-kit, -kayt; verb: IM-bri-kayt)

MEANING:

adjective: Having overlapping edges, as tiles on a roof or scales on a fish.
verb tr., intr.: To overlap as roof tiles or fish scales.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin imbricare (to cover with pantiles: semicylindrical tiles), from imbrex (pantile), from imber (rain).

USAGE:

"In that region [Skopje], yesterday as today, allegiance to the Church was more than a merely confessional matter. It was, and is, imbricated with a series of loyalties to nation, region, and even party."
Christopher Hitchens; The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice; Verso Books; 1995.

Explore "imbricate" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives, and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time. -Voltaire, philosopher (1694-1778)

Sponsored by:

Play WildWords. Forget qat, za, and xi Your preexisting vocabulary can win. It's what Scrabble should have been.

In My Book® ...the greeting card and bookmark in one... How to sponsor

© 2010 Wordsmith.org