Wondrous Words Wednesday
Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy of Bermudaonion where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. If you want to play along, grab the button, write a post and add your link to Mr. Linky on Kathy's blog!
This week the new words I encountered were from Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. I used Merriam Webster's online dictionary for the definitions.
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1. boffin
He turned and strode from the room, the head boffin leaving with him. (p.146)
A boffin is a scientific expert, especially one involved in technological research. This is chiefly a British term and I would never have guessed its meaning.
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2. morganatic
The official term was a morganatic marriage, which had always sounded like disease to Alek. (p. 220)
A morganatic marriage means a marriage between a member of a royal or noble family and a person of inferior rank in which the rank of the inferior partner remains unchanged and the children of the marriage do not succeed to the titles, fiefs, or entailed property of the parent of higher rank. I could have guessed this one from the context but I wanted to be sure.
What new words have you encountered in your reading this week? Do share!
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4 comments:
I read Leviathan and enjoyed it, but it was before I developed my new habit of looking up words, so I'm really glad to know these!
For some reason, I thought of "puffin" when I read your first word. So I was picturing a penguin-like bird. Guess I was wrong. :) If you get a chance, my words are here: http://readhanded.blogspot.com/2011/04/wondrous-words-wednesday_20.html
I would never have guessed the meaning of boffin either. Thanks for playing along!
I'm very keen to read Leviathan, it was one of those books that I read reviews of when it came out, and have been very keen since then. I had thought that Scott Westerfeld was Australian, as he lives here, but it seems he married an Australian. Boffin is a common word here, so one that I know. I did laugh out loud at Julie's reaction- I love the image of a boffin with a mouth full of fish like a puffin! Morganatic marriage is a new concept for me- for a while I thought it would apply to the upcoming royal nuptials this week, but the proviso about the children being excluded doesn't apply there.
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