Word of The Day for Wednesday, May 18, 2011

xanthous

xan•thous (ZAN-thuhs)  adj

Definition:
1. yellow; yellowish
2. of, relating to, or designating races with yellowish hair and a light complexion (ethnology)


xanthic
xan•thic (zan-thik) adj
1. of or pertaining to a yellow or yellowish color
2. of or derived from xanthine or xanthic acid (chemistry)

Origin:
1829, from Gk. xanthos "yellow," of unknown origin

Related:
Synonyms: yellow, yellowish, xanthic, gamboge, aureolin, xanthein, aureate, golden, flavous, citrine, fallow; fulvous, fulvid; sallow, luteous, auricomous, xanthocarpous, xanthochroid, xanthopous
Related Words: xanthic, xanthocarpous, xanthochroid, xanthopous, xanthein, xanthin, xanthite, xanthopsia


Sentence Examples:
• What imaginable intelligence could compensate her for the flat blueness of her eyes, the xanthous pallor of her hair, the doll-like pink of her cheeks?  - Damn!, Henry Louis Mencken

• "Perhaps if we find his xanthic highness after a good meal he will be inclined to be a bit more lenient," Loomis whispered with a forced laugh, trying to cheer his glum companions. - The Sword and the Atopen, Taylor H. Greenfield

• The name was Scandinavian, and the appearance of the girl confirmed that supposition. She evidently belonged to the great race of Nilsson and Lind. Her hair, a mass of rebellious, short curls, was of the peculiar shade of light yellow common among that people; it looked as if the xanthous locks of the old Gauls, as described by Cæsar, had been faded out, in the long nights and the ice and snow of the Northland, to this paler hue. - Caesar's Column, Ignatius Donnelly


Sources: Free Dictionary, Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

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