Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Wondrous Words Wednesday-March 3

Bermudaonion asks you to share new words that you have learned during your reading adventures in the last week. Feel free to join in the fun!

Here are some new words that I learned this week while reading The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani:

Sigheh:  a Shiite tradition of temporary marriage permitted in Iran that allows a couple to specify the terms of their relationship; can last from a few minutes to 99 years; "sigeh legally wraps premarital sex in an Islamic cloak". (I think I should note that the spelling in the book was different than it was at Dictionary.com.

Here is how sigheh was used on page 117:
"I know that pilgrims to Qom may contract a sigheh for an hour or a night-but these are arrangements for pleasure."

Scimatar:  a curved, single-edged sword of Oriental origin.

Here is how scimatar was used on page 228:
I drew long, tapered leaves that looked like scimitars, which would cross the rug horizontally.

Lodestone:   (I decided to give you both definitions of lodestone.)
A variety of magnetite that possesses magnetic polarity and attracts iron.
A piece of this serving as a magnet.

Here is how lodestone was used on page 350:
"Look at that!" she sad, attracted to it as if it were a lodestone.

Vizier:  a high official in certain Muslim countries and caliphates, esp. a minister of state.

Here is how vizier was used on page 364:
When the shah demanded the vizier's only daughter in marriage, he refused to give her away.

So what kind of words did you learn this last week?

3 comments:

Kaye said...

Those words are really interesting. Sounds like an intriguing book. Have a great week and happy reading!

Margot said...

From your four words I really get a sense of the book. I found the custom/law of sigheh very interesting.

bermudaonion said...

I knew scimitar for some odd reason, but the rest are new to me. I agree with Margot - your words give a good sense of the book. Thanks for playing along!