RAIMENT

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Dr. Goodword
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RAIMENT

Postby Dr. Goodword » Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:27 pm

• raiment •

Pronunciation: ray-ment • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. (Mass noun) Clothing, apparel, usually unusually beautiful. 2. (Count noun) A garment or article of (fine) apparel.

Notes: Today's Good Word is presented in many dictionaries as a simple synonym for clothing, but the beauty of the word itself usually conveys the sense of extremely fine clothing. It may be used as a mass noun like apparel with no plural (She arrived in raiment fit for a queen) or as a count noun like garment (Her finely fashioned raiments stunned everyone in the room). It may also be used as a verb.

In Play: The first sense of today's word is physical clothing or apparel: "Maude Lynn Dresser attended the party in raiment that raised every eyebrow in the house." However, the same metaphors that apply to apparel work even more beautifully with this word: "The maple trees in their raiment of red and gold slowed traffic down to a crawl."

Word History: Today's Good Word is rather the score of a lexical tennis match between Germanic and Romance languages. It is based on a Germanic word borrowed by Latin, passed on to Italian, borrowed by French and returned, at last, safe if not sound, to a Germanic language, this time English. Most recently this word arose by shortening Middle English arayment "clothing", borrowed from French araiement. French inherited its word from a Vulgar (Street) Latin word we can no longer find or borrowed it from Italian arredare, which now means "to furnish". The Latin word came from ad "(up) to" + redare, a word that must come from the Germanic stem raed-, also the source of English ready. The original verbal meaning, therefore, would seem to have been "to ready up", a sense that slid very comfortably into "to dress". (Let us all now raiment Joe Heckel with our warmest gratitude for suggesting today's Good Word.)
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sardith
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raiment

Postby sardith » Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:13 am

Dear Doc,

I don't know what's wrong with my 'inner' ear, or what you would call it, but I have always pronounced that word, 'rain-ment'.

My reading exposure to this word is the regulation King James Version of the Bible, which sprinkles it around liberally, "The life is more than meat, and the body [is more] than raiment." Luke 12:23, e.g., and although I would never misspell it, that 'n' would inevitably find its way in my speaking voice! :shock:

I find that amazing and humorous. :oops:

Have a resplendent day!
Sardith :lol:
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”
~Mark Twain, [pen name for Samuel Clemens], American author and humorist, (1835-1910)~

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Postby MTC » Thu Apr 28, 2011 12:40 pm

The Royals will be resplendent in their raiment today, but Sardith's self-effacing good humor shines even more brightly.

And by the way, why not "rainment" for high-end rainwear by
Chanel, for instance?

P.S.

A revelatory ray through the clouds that raiment is also a verb.

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Postby MTC » Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:06 pm

The Royals will be resplendent in their raiment today, but Sardith's self-effacing good humor shines even more brightly.

And by the way, why not "rainment" for high-end rainwear by
Chanel, for instance?

P.S.

A revelatory ray through the clouds that raiment is also a verb.

LukeJavan8
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:26 pm

I think you all have the movie "Rain Man" on your noggins.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

sardith
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raiment

Postby sardith » Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:55 pm

Oh, not possible, Luke.

My auditory augmentation began long before 'Rain Man', but nice try. :P
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”
~Mark Twain, [pen name for Samuel Clemens], American author and humorist, (1835-1910)~

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bamaboy56
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Postby bamaboy56 » Mon May 09, 2011 12:39 am

Sardith's "inner ear" problem made me smile. Wonder if there's a word that means "the insertion or substitution of letters in a word". My wife has an aunt that always talks about the money she saves by shopping at "Walmark". Never does any good to tell her the name of the store ends with a "t", not a "k".
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I'm going to change myself. -- Rumi

LukeJavan8
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Mon May 09, 2011 12:26 pm

Don't know if this is the same, but all my very young
life I said "unelse" for "unless". It still sounds right
to me as I say it.
What about it Doc?????
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

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Slava
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Postby Slava » Mon May 09, 2011 12:40 pm

One that my father always corrected was the extra r in sherbet.

I'm sure there's a word for it, and I even think it's been done here. I just don't know how to find it.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

LukeJavan8
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Mon May 09, 2011 12:46 pm

Extra R's?
We have a town here nearby spelled NORFOLK.
But it is universally spoken of as NorfoRk.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

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Slava
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Postby Slava » Mon May 09, 2011 12:52 pm

A lot of people, even well-educated ones, pronounce sherbet as sherbert.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

sardith
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raiment

Postby sardith » Mon May 09, 2011 6:42 pm

I see, so I am not the only one with the auditory malfunction. That makes me smile. :)

Sardith :wink:
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”
~Mark Twain, [pen name for Samuel Clemens], American author and humorist, (1835-1910)~

LukeJavan8
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Mon May 09, 2011 10:06 pm

I like that: "auditory malfunction". Bless Janet J. the word
is a virtual catch-all these days.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

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Rai[n]ment

Postby Dr. Goodword » Tue May 10, 2011 11:29 pm

I'm sure Luke is not the only person who thinks or has thought this word to be rainment. It's called 'folk etymology' and I've written about it several times. Would a slicker or raincoat qualify as 'rainment'?
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