A.Word.A.Day --lepidopterology

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lepidopterology

PRONUNCIATION:

(lep-i-dop-tuh-ROL-uh-jee)

MEANING:

noun: The study of butterflies and moths.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek lepido- (scale) + pteron (wing, feather), ultimately from the Indo-European root pet- (to rush or fly) that also gave us feather, petition, compete, and perpetual.

USAGE:

"Mr. Sokolenko's exhibition comes at a time when Nabokov's reputation is on an upswing in the rarefied world of lepidopterology. During his lifetime some lepidopterists, perhaps jealous of his literary fame, carped about his lack of formal training."
Alexander Osipovich; St. Petersburg Exhibition Shows Nabokov Under (and Behind) a Microscope; The New York Times; Jul 26, 2006.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Men have slow reflexes. In general it takes several generations later for them to understand. -Stanislaw J. Lec, poet and aphorist (1909-1966)

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