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Nov 25, 2014
This week's theme
Eponyms

This week's words
solon
mazarine
platonic
tontine
malthusian

butterfly: Mazarine Blue
A butterfly named Mazarine Blue

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

mazarine

PRONUNCIATION:
(maz-uh-REEN, MAZ-uh-reen, -rin)

MEANING:
adjective: A deep, rich shade of blue.

ETYMOLOGY:
After either Cardinal Jules Mazarin (1602-1661) or his niece, Duchess Hortense Mancini (1646-1699). Why this color is associated with them is not entirely clear. Earliest documented use: 1684.

USAGE:
"'This,' said Ned, 'is a mazarine blue. Very, very rare!'"
Elizabeth Palmer; The Distaff Side; Thomas Dunne Books; 2004.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. -Elie Wiesel, writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1928)

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