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apothegm A-puh-them noun a maxim; a pithy saying; a succinct remark 1846Nathaniel HawthorneThe Old ManseIt has been an apothegm these five thousand years, that toil sweetens the bread it earns.1877Michel de MontaigneThe Essays of MontaigneHad any one formerly brought me to Erasmus, I should hardly have believed but that all was adage and apothegm he spoke to his man or his hostess.1905Edith Wharton The House of MirthIf you would forgive your enemy, says the Malay proverb, first inflict a hurt on him; and Lily was experiencing the truth of the apothegm.1922James Branch CabellJurgen Besides, a kiss, wherever deposited, as Jurgen pointed out, is, when you think of it, but a ceremonial, of no intrinsic wrongfulness. The girl demurring against this apothegm—as custom again exacted—was, still in common fairness, convinced of her error. So now, says Jurgen presently, you see for yourself. Labels: Edith Wharton, James Branch Cabell, Michel de Montaigne, Nathaniel Hawthorne
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benignant bi-NIG-nuhnt adjective benign; favorable; kind 1868Louisa May Alcott Little Women As she lifted the curtain to look out into the dreary night, the moon broke suddenly from behind the clouds and shone upon her like a bright, benignant face, which seemed to whisper in the silence,' Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds.' 1921Fredrick O'Brien Mystic Isles of the South Seas He had run away for a change from the desert-like interior of his vast island, where he treated the ills of a large territory of sheep-herders, and to be on this mountain under such a benignant canopy, and to hear the folk-lore of the most fascinating race on earth, was to him worth foregoing sleep all night. 1929Edith Wharton Hudson River BracketedMr. Spear had become tolerant and even benignant.Labels: Edith Wharton, Fredrick O'Brien, Louisa May Alcott
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impecunious im-pi-KYOO-nee-uhs adjective broke; penniless; needy 1920Edith WhartonThe Age of InnocenceAs it was precisely of that love that poor Winsett was starving to death, Archer looked with a sort of vicarious envy at this eager impecunious young man who had fared so richly in his poverty.1938Nevil ShuteRuined CityIt came through Sir David Hogan, who induced an impecunious shipowner associate to speculate on the future to the extent of ordering a replacement to his fleet.1990Robert LudlumThe Bourne UltimatumIt was a heady experience for a man who had lived an impecunious existence for the past thirty years.Labels: Edith Wharton, Nevil Shute, Robert Ludlum
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fissiparous fi-SI-puh-ruhs adjective characterized by divisive tendencies; the propensity to divide or break away from a larger body or group 1868Charles DarwinThe Variation of Animals and Plants Under DomesticationSuch cases as that of the Hydra are evidently analogous to the spontaneous division or fissiparous generation of the lowest animals, and likewise to the budding of plants.1911John H. HumphreysProportional RepresentationIn such circumstances parties necessarily give place to groups, and the fissiparous tendency is most apparent where party discipline is most rigid.1934Edith WhartonA Backward GlanceMay not the matchless beauty of an ancient rite have protected our ancestors from what Huxley called the 'fissiparous tendency of the Protestant sects,'…2003J. R. R. TolkienThe History of Middle EarthEvil is fissiparous.Labels: Charles Darwin, Edith Wharton, J. R. R. Tolkien, John H. Humphreys
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