The Old English word for day (daegh) probably tracks back to a Sanskrit word meaning “the burning time,” a reference to the hot sun. [See ALL IN A DAY’S WORK, September 13, 2007]
In this entry, I’d like to focus on a few of the words that contain the word day while expressing it in covert fashion. The point? Love of words, plain and simple.
• adjourn: to put off until another day [L. ad, to + diurnus, day]
• biduous: lasting for two days [L. bi-, two + dies, day.]
• circadian: designating physiological activity which occurs approximately every twenty-four hours, or the rhythm of such activity. [L. circa, about + dies, day]
• daisy: the familiar flower [OE dæges éage day's eye, eye of day]
• Decameron: Boccaccio’s tales, allegedly told in ten days [Gr. deka, ten + hemera, day]
• dial (sundial): an instrument serving to tell the hour of the day by means of the sun's shadow upon a graduated surface [L. dialis, daily]
• diary: daily record of events [L. dies, day]
• diurnal: occupying one day [L. diurnalis, daily]
• du jour: that which is chosen or allocated for a particular day [Fr. du jour, of the day] NOTE: therefore, never ask for the soup du jour of the day.
• ephemeral: fleeting; temporary [Gr. epi, for + hemera, day]
• hemeralopia: a visual defect in which the eyes see indistinctly, or not at all, by daylight, but tolerably well by night or artificial light [Gr. hemera, day + alaos, blind + ops, eye]
• hemerine: belonging to a day, esp. a fever [Gr. hemera, day]
• hodiernal: pertaining to the present day [L. hodie, today]
• journal: a daily record [Fr. jour, day]
• journey: the distance travelled in a day or a specified number of days [Fr. journée, a day’s travel] NOTE: in the Middle Ages, approximately 20 miles constituted a day’s journey.
• meridian: relating to noon [L. medius, middle + dies, day]
• pridian: relating to the previous day [L. pri, before + dies, day]
• procrastinate: put off until the day after [L. pro, for + cras, tomorrow]
• quotidian: pertaining to every day [L. quotidie, every day]
• sojourn: a temporary stay in a place [Fr. jour, day]
• ultradian: designating cycles of physiological activity which recur with a period shorter than one day but longer than one hour [L. ultra, beyond + dies, day]
SIDEBAR: Day by Day (me faz bem) by Luca Mundaca
SIDEBAR: Chastity Bono: Day by Day (Ceremony)
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