Today's word was suggested by my friend CHM. Its origins are maritime in nature, but it has come to be used by landlubbers as well. You may know its more common sister word, éclaircie.
If you've been in France any time during the last two months, you crave les embellies. They're the breaks in the clouds when the sun pokes through. A temporary improvement in the otherwise dismal weather.The noun derives from the verb embellir which means to make something better looking. I'm sure that's where English gets the word embellish.
Image from : http://naturelle.canalblog.com
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This week is Word of the Week's one-year anniversary. The following is an alphabetic list of the 46 words that have appeared in this space in the past year - I did miss a week here and there. Do you remember what they mean ?
- antipodes
- b.a.-ba
- bourriche
- buanderie
- butinage
- calotte
- canicule
- couac
- cran
- crevé
- crosnes
- décousu
- déjanter
- éboulement
- échelonner
- écrin
- embellie
- étrenne
- fastoche
- feu
- filou
- fleuron
- gamelle
- gazon
- gribouillage
- instar
- kifer
- maussade
- motte
- patauger
- péplum
- rameau
- rassasier
- ressac
- riper
- s’évertuer
- sangsue
- scélérat
- scrutin
- socle
- timoré
- tomber dans les pommes
- tramontane
- trouble
- victoire
- wapiti
Don't remember all of the words, but am totally impressed that you have published a list! Vive le mot de la semaine!
ReplyDeleteI do! ;)
ReplyDeleteI think 'embellie' is what our UK neighbours on the BBC call a 'sunny spell'
They are pretty scarce this year.