Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
HOURGLASS
hourglass
(noun) a sandglass that runs for sixty minutes
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
hourglass (plural hourglasses)
A clock made of two glass vessels connected by a narrow passage through which sand flows.
(GUI) A pointer, often shaped like an hourglass, indicating that the computer is busy.
Synonyms
• sandglass
Hyponyms
• egg timer, egg-timer
Source: Wiktionary
Hour"glass`, n.
Definition: An instrument for measuring time, especially the interval of an hour. It consists of a glass vessel having two compartments, from the uppermost of which a quantity of sand, water, or mercury occupies an hour in running through a small aperture unto the lower.
Note: A similar instrument measuring any other interval of time takes its name from the interval measured; as, a half-hour glass, a half- minute glass. A three-minute glass is sometimes called an egg-glass, from being used to time the boiling of eggs.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Word of the Day
19 November 2024
SALTWORT
(noun) bushy plant of Old World salt marshes and sea beaches having prickly leaves; burned to produce a crude soda ash
Coffee Trivia
