incipit (n) the first part; beginning; specifically the opening words of a text of a medieval manuscript or early printed book.
quotidian (adj) 1: occuring every day; 2: belonging to each day, everyday; commonplace, ordinary. "The point is that even if one's daily life may appear quotidian, Wallace says, one can still wage a silent and extraordinary war." (p. 32)
Thanatos (n) an instinctual desire for death that in Freudian theory is one of two primal instincts. "... seeking to contain the spread of a thanatotic contagion..." (p. 33)
metonymy (n) a figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated. "...the city had apppeared before him as metonymy for his entire adult future: a place of human industry and sophistication waiting to receive him." (p. 37)
Words are from The Storm at the Door by Stefan Merrill Block. Definitions are from Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary.
Only heard of incipit, the others are new to me.
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Quotidain is a French word, so I knew it. Thanks for participating!
ReplyDeleteWow, these are really hard words. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYour new words are also new to me. Sounds like your reading was a bit challenging.
ReplyDeleteLike Kathy I know quotidian from French (not that my French is all that great really), it's a very useful word. Thanatos was the Greek God of death, the term euthanasia actually means good death, and is derived from Thanatos. I think I know incipit, but I think it's just reminding me of insipid!
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