Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Wednesday Word Skills



“Book of the Dead,” by Patricia Cornwell, had lots of new words to look up for this week.



Castigated = to punish or rebuke severely, especially by harsh public criticism

Dorsolateral = of, relating to, or involving both the back and the sides

Enigmatic = perplexing, baffling

Lividity = grayish blue, lead-colored, sometimes taken to mean pale, white or red

Palliative = excusing, extenuating

Pathognomonic = indicative or typical of a particular disease

Petechiae = a small hemorrhagic spot in the skin, mucous membrane, etc.

Pittosporum = any of a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs of the pittosporum family from Japan, Australia, etc.

Priapism = a pathological condition characterized by persistent erection of the penis, especially without sexual excitement

Trattoria = a small, inexpensive restaurant in Italy

Travertine = a light-colored limestone deposited around lakes, streams or springs

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I sure would love to read the book at least to know the usage of these words in it.. Great list :)..

LuAnn said...

If you like suspense and intrigue, this is a great book.
By the way, flo, I tried to leave some comments on your blog, but the comment buttons wouldn't work.