Word Of The Day. 9/17/12 - 921/12

1. Diapason

1.

A full, rich outpouring of melodious sound.

2.

The compass of a voice or instrument.

3.

A fixed standard of pitch.

4.

Either of two principal timbres or stops of a pipe organ, one of full, majestic tone (open diapason) and the other of strong, flutelike tone (stopped diapason).

5.

Any of several other organ stops.

6.

A tuning fork.

Origin:

Diapason  was originally an abbreviation of the Greek phrase "hē dià pāsôn chordôn symphōnía" which meant "the concord through all the notes of the scale."

Diapason chorus rang through the building with scarcely any attenuation in the farthest corner.

 2. Tartuffery

1.

Behavior or character of a Tartuffe, especially hypocritical piety.

Origin:

Tartuffery  comes from the comedy by French playwright Molière. The central character of the eponymous play Tartuffe  was a hypocritical pretender.

Chris had a tartuffery attitudue, very unlike his normal character.

3. Bollix

1.

To do (something) badly; bungle (often followed by up): His interference bollixed up the whole deal.

noun:

1.

A confused bungle.

Origin:

Bollix  arose in the 1930s. It's a variation on the slang word bollocks.

I am bollix when it comes to math.

 4. Hustings

1.

The political campaign trail.

2.

(Before 1872) the temporary platform on which candidates for the British Parliament stood when nominated and from which they addressed the electors.

3.

Any place from which political campaign speeches are made.

4.

Also called hustings court. A local court in certain parts of Virginia.

Origin:

Hustings  is derived from the Old Danish word hūs-thing  which meant "house meeting."

Election update special five politicians were put on the spot on monday night at an election hustings hosted by the dunoon observer.

5. Strepitous

1.

boisterous; noisy.

Origin:

Strepitous  stems from the Latin word strepit  which meant "noise."

My mother is very strepitous; always wants to know what is going on in my life.