Friday, July 4, 2014

Word of the day: magnifico

The word of the day from A.Word.A.Day is magnifico:

noun: A person of high rank or position.

Earlier magnifico was an honorary title applied to Venetian noblemen. From Italian magnifico (magnificent), from Latin magnus (great). Ultimately from the Indo-European root meg- (great), which is also the source of magnificent, maharajah, master, mayor, maestro, magnate, magistrate, maximum, magnify, mickle, mahatma, and magnanimous. Earliest documented use: 1573.
Magnifico is another word that I associate with a particular work of literature: the Wallace Stevens poem “Metaphors of a You-Know-What.”

Other words, other works of lit
Apoplexy, avatar, bandbox, heifer, sanguine, sempiternal : Artificer : Ineluctable : Iridescent : Opusculum

[“Metaphors of a You-Know-What” also sounds like a Wallace Stevens title. Or better, John Ashbery.]

comments: 3

Geo-B said...

"Gyre"--->Yeats,
"Second Coming,"
"tintinnabulation"--->Poe,
"The Bells"
"whey--->
"Little Miss Muffet"

Geo-B said...

Oh, yea, also,
"tuffet"--->
"Little Miss Muffet"
(no idea what a tuffet is)

Michael Leddy said...

I’ve always thought of it as an ottoman. I don’t want to be proven wrong.