Periscian (adj.)

1590s, "of or pertaining to the Periscii," the inhabitants of the Polar circle in ancient Greek imagination, literally (those) "throwing a shadow all round," from peri "round about" (see peri-) + skia "shade, shadow" (see, and compare, Ascians). So called because their shadows would revolve around them during the course of a summer day, when the sun is always above the horizon there.

also from 1590s

Entries linking to Periscian

Ascians (n.)

inhabitants of the torrid zone, 1630s, from Medieval Latin Ascii, from Greek askioi, from a- "not, without" (see a- (3)) + skia "shade, shadow," which Beekes derives from PIE *skhieh- "shadow" (source also of Sanskrit chaya "shadow," also "image;" Persian saya "shadow," Albanian hie "shadow"). So called because they "haue the Sunne twice euery yeere in their zenith, and then they make no shaddowes at all" [Nathanael Carpenter, "Geographie Delineated forth in Two Bookes," 1635].

peri-

word-forming element in words of Greek origin or formation meaning "around, about, enclosing," from Greek peri (prep.) "around, about, beyond," cognate with Sanskrit pari "around, about, through," Latin per, from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, before, first, chief, toward, near, around, against." Equivalent in sense to Latin circum-.

Trends of Periscian

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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felon

c. 1300, "one who deceives or commits treason; one who is wicked or evil; evil-doer," used of Lucifer and Herod, from Old French felon "evil-doer, scoundrel, traitor, rebel, oath-breaker, the Devil" (9c.), from Medieval Latin fellonem (nominative fello) "evil-doer," which is of u

bozo

1920, "muscular low-I.Q. male," originally appearing in boxing slang (compare bimbo). Perhaps from Spanish bozal, used in the slave trade and also to mean "one who speaks Spanish poorly." It was also a proper name of Eastern European origin. By 1913 a vaudeville actor named Bob A

prodigal

c. 1500, of persons, "given to extravagant expenditure, lavish, wasteful," a back-formation from prodigality, or else from French prodigal and directly from Late Latin prodigalis, from Latin prodigus "wasteful," from prodigere "drive away, waste," from pro "forth" (from PIE root

passion

c. 1200, "the sufferings of Christ on the Cross; the death of Christ," from Old French passion "Christ's passion, physical suffering" (10c.), from Late Latin passionem (nominative passio) "suffering, enduring," from past-participle stem of Latin pati "to endure, undergo, experien

remote

mid-15c., "distant in place, apart, removed, not near," from Latin remotus "afar off, remote, distant in place," past participle of removere "move back or away, take away, put out of view, subtract," from re- "back, away" (see re-) + movere "to move" (from PIE root *meue- "to pus

address

early 14c., "to guide, aim, or direct," from Old French adrecier "go straight toward; straighten, set right; point, direct" (13c.), from Vulgar Latin *addirectiare "make straight" (source also of Spanish aderezar, Italian addirizzare), from ad "to" (see ad-) + *directiare "make s

epitome

1520s, "an abstract; brief statement of the chief points of some writing," from French épitomé (16c.), from Latin epitome "an abridgment," from Greek epitome "an abridgment, a cutting on the surface; brief summary," from epitemnein "cut short, abridge," from epi "into" (see epi-)

quixotic

of persons, "extravagantly chivalrous, absurdly romantic," abstractly, "striving for an unattainable or impractical ideal," 1791, from Don Quixote, the romantic, impractical hero of Cervantes' satirical novel "Don Quixote de la Mancha" (1605; in English translation by 1620). Don

mortgage

late 14c., morgage, "a conveyance of property on condition as security for a loan or agreement," from Old French morgage (13c.), mort gaige, literally "dead pledge" (replaced in modern French by hypothèque), from mort "dead" (see mortal (adj.)) + gage "pledge" (see wage (n.)). So

dichotomy

c. 1600, "a cutting in two, division into two classes;" 1630s, "state of having a dual arrangement or order," from Latinized form of Greek dikhotomia "a cutting in half," from dikho-, combining form of dikha "in two, asunder" (from or related to dis "twice," from PIE root *dwo- "

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updated on April 08, 2020

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Dictionary entries near Periscian

peripheral

periphery

periphrasis

periphrastic

periplum

Periscian

periscope

perish

perishable

peristalsis

peristaltic