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Mar 13, 2009
This week's theme15-letter words This week's words infundibuliform subintelligitur lepidopterology mathematicaster dermatoglyphics
Dermatoglyphics of Einstein, with whom Wordsmith.org shares its birthday, Mar 14
Source: Hand und Persönlichkeit
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with Anu Gargdermatoglyphics
PRONUNCIATION:
(duhr-mat-uh-GLIF-iks, -muh-tuh-)
MEANING:
noun:1. The ridge patterns of skin on the inner surface of the hands and feet. 2. The scientific study of these skin patterns. ETYMOLOGY:
The term was coined in 1926 by Dr Harold Cummins (1893-1976),
from Greek dermato- (skin) + glyphein (to carve). Ultimately from the
Indo-European root gleubh- (to tear apart) that is also the source of cleve,
glyph, clever, and clove (garlic). And that's also where we get cleavage,
cleft palate, and cloven hooves.
USAGE:
"What makes dermatoglyphics important as markers for disease and traits is
the fact that they develop at specific times in the foetus. Fingerprints,
for example, begin to form at around the 13th week and are completed
around week 18 -- the same time that critical growth in the brain is taking
place."Roger Dobson; Scientists Say Palm-reading is True Guide to Intelligence; The Sunday Times (London, UK); Dec 9, 2001. See more usage examples of dermatoglyphics in Vocabulary.com's dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Snakes and ladders: the game of organized religions. -Yahia Lababidi, writer (b. 1973)
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