Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy @ Bermudaonion weblog where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. If you want to play along, grab the button, and join the fun! (Don’t forget to leave a link in the comments if you’re participating.)
This weeks words are from Home from Holly Springs by Jan Karon.
hied – “He’d had a mild confrontation a dew years back when he and Cynthia hied to the country for a picnic.”
Hied means to go quickly. This seems like a word I should have known but I sure didn’t.
Rogation (days) – “What his wife dubbed Reclining Days, roughly in the tradition, say, of the church calendar’s Rogation Day, had arrived at last, and thus he was reclining.”
Rogation Days are days of prayer, and formerly also of fasting, instituted by the Church to appease God’s anger at man’s transgressions, to ask protection in calamities, and to obtain a good and bountiful harvest..(from the Catholic Encyclopedia via newadvent.org)
I knew hied, but Rogation is totally new to me. Thanks for participating today!
Very interesting words. Both were new to me. I really want to read this one.
proboscis [prəʊˈbɒsɪs]
n pl -cises, -cides [-sɪˌdiːz]
1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Zoology) a long flexible prehensile trunk or snout, as of an elephant
2. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Zoology) the elongated mouthparts of certain insects, adapted for piercing or sucking food
3. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Zoology) any similar part or organ
4. Informal, facetious a person’s nose, esp if large
[via Latin from Greek proboskis trunk of an elephant, from boskein to feed]
From the book The Elephant Keeper (page 5) by Christopher Nicholson.
Rogation is a really cool sounding word and one I’ve never heard of before.
I hadn’t heard of either of those! The second one really suprises me because I was raised Catholic!
Don’t you love Jan Karon? Her Father Tim books are like Little House on the Prairie for adults 🙂 Have you read “Miss Fanny’s Hats” the children’s picture book (Easter theme)?
I gave “Miss Fanny’s Hats” as an Easter present and browsed it a little before. It does look wonderful.