• etiolate •
Pronunciation: ee-tee-ê-layt • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Verb, transitive
Meaning: 1. To bleach or make pale, especially by depriving of light. 2. To make feeble or sickly.
Notes: Today's is a good but tricky word: the stress (accent) is on the first of four syllables, rather unusual for English. Keep an eye (or tongue) on that problem area and this very good word will quickly snuggle into your vocabulary. The noun is etiolation.
In Play: Probably the most common etiolation is suffered by vegetables like asparagus. Etiolated asparagus works well on plates where green clashes with the colors of the other servings. "Years researching her novels in musty libraries had etiolated Rhoda Book to the point it was difficult to look at her in a bright light." Rhoda's sister, Rita, was physically etiolated by lying to much abed with good literature.
Word History: This word was taken from French étioler, from étieuler "to grow into haulm," from éteule "stalk," from Old French esteule. Esteule came to French from Latin stipula "stalk, stem, stubble", which shares a source with English stem. The semantic journey seems to have departed from the idea that stalks (Latin stipula) are wastage used historically for bedding and thatching. My guess would be that plants that didn't receive enough sun were considered wastage until chefs discovered that certain etiolated vegetables could add a dash of the exotic to the presentation of their dishes. (Today's word comes to us, ironically enough, from the Land of the Rising Sun, Kamakura, Japan, a suggestion of Flaminius, an active word-trader in the Alpha Agora.)
ETIOLATE
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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I like the picture of white asparagus. I've never had any, though. Does it taste different, or is just the color?
I had to look up haulm. It turns out this is the collective term for the stems and stalks used to make bedding way back when. By the way, the l is silent.
Stipula, the Latin for stalk, made me think of stipulate. Yep, they are related. The theory is that stipulate comes from the breaking of a straw to seal a deal. It's thus been stipulated.
I had to look up haulm. It turns out this is the collective term for the stems and stalks used to make bedding way back when. By the way, the l is silent.
Stipula, the Latin for stalk, made me think of stipulate. Yep, they are related. The theory is that stipulate comes from the breaking of a straw to seal a deal. It's thus been stipulated.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
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- Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 1476
- Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:58 pm
- Location: Carolinia Agrestícia: The Forest Primeval
Re: ETIOLATE
Yes, the first thing I think of when making food is, "oh wait, I can't make those together-- the colors will clash" (/snark)Etiolated asparagus works well on plates where green clashes with the colors of the other servings.
Nice word though.
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! Knife no one, fink!
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