I've found quite a few new words as I've been reading Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran. Here are just a few:
Caryatid: [kar-ee-at-id] a sculptured female figure used as a column.
Here is how caryatid was used on page 42:
Charmion had taught me to pay attention to even the smallest details, and I had captured the sea foam as it broke against the Lighthouse, and the still faces of the marble caryatids that lined the Canopic Way.
Porphyry:[pawr-fuh-ree] a very hard rock, anciently quarried in Egypt, having a dark, purplish-red groundmass containing small crystals of feldspar.
Here is how porphyry was used on page 64:
He indicated a flat-topped hill where buildings of polished marble and porphyry gleamed.
Tesserae: [tes-uh-ree] small squares of stone or glass used in making mosaic patterns.
Here is how tesserae was used on page 175:
It can be trimmed with white tesserae.
This is just a small sample of the new words that I have learned while reading this book. So did you find any new words this last week?
6 comments:
I haven't read Cleopatra's Daughter yet. It looks like there are many unusual and interesting words in the book!
I really like caryatid, it's much better than writing out "a sculptured female figure" when writing about it!
I know what Tesserae are but didn't know the word for them! So thank you!
Porphyry sounds beautiful!
I remember reading all these words in the book. There are so many new words there.
Here is my Wondrous Words Wednesday post!
From your three words and three teaser sentences I'm getting a good idea of this book. I'm looking forward to your review.
Great words - they're all new to me! I hope to read that book soon, so they're a big help to me. Thanks for playing along.
Last week I learned naupathia, which means seasickness. (And I was even able to stump my husband with that word. Usually Mr. Dictionary knows everything!)
I haven't heard of any of these words before. Thanks for sharing!
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