Today's Word

Subscribe

Archives

A Random Word From the Archives

Permanent link for this word: escarpment

A.Word.A.Day--escarpment

escarpment (i-SKARP-ment) noun

A long, steep slope separating two relatively level areas of land at differing elevations.

[From French escarpement, from Italian scarpa (slope).]

"There is a place in Hell called Malebolge,
fashioned entirely of iron-colored rock,
as is the escarpment that encircles it."
Inferno XVIII.1-3.

"This is the precise midpoint of the Inferno. Above are all the sins punished in the two main areas of Incontinence and Violence. Thus fully one half of Dante's hell is populated by those who were fraudulent, hardening their hearts against their fellow creatures and against God. This lower hell is portrayed as a gigantic fortress. However, instead of a castle keep, rising over the landscape, the center of hell is a vast pit in which is fastened the powerless figure of Satan, hell's `king,' punished and punishing as he serves the justice of God."

This week's theme: words from Dante's Inferno, a verse translation by Jean Hollander and Robert Hollander.

X-Bonus

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate