January 12, 2007

pellucid

pellucid: translucently clear adj. [pə loō' sid]:
mountains reflected in the pellucid waters.
• lucid in style or meaning; easily understood :
he writes, as always, in pellucid prose.
• (of music or other sound) clear and pure in tone :
a smooth legato and pellucid singing tone are his calling cards.

DERIVATIVES pellucidly adverb ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from Latin pellucidus, from perlucere ‘shine through.’
--Oxford American Dictionary Electronic Version 1.0.1 (1.0.1)

Bloggin John Comments:
The main reason I selected pellucid for this blog was to share with you Cynthia Ozick's thoughts about the word presented in Lewis Burke's The Logophile's Orgy: Favorite words of Famous People. When asked to identify her favorite word, Ozick rhapsodized thus about pellucid:

"'Pellucid,' because of both the (limpid, lucent) sound and the nearly utopian slant of meaning. An intensity of clarity--of light, of openness, of truth, of person, of history. 'Pelluid' suggests--or promises--that nothing more than the thinnest, most transparent membrane lies between longing and enlightenment."

Ozick's words seem to float and shimmer impressionistically above the page, not fully tethered or grounded--just turning, brightening.

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