In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
OSTENT
Etymology 1
Verb
ostent (third-person singular simple present ostents, present participle ostenting, simple past and past participle ostented)
(ambitransitive, obsolete) To make an ambitious display of; to exhibit or show boastingly; to ostentate.
Etymology 2
Noun
ostent (plural ostents or ostenta)
(archaic, rare) A portent, a token.
Etymology 3
Noun
ostent (plural ostents)
(archaic, rare) A display, an exhibition; an appearance, a manifestation.
A boastful, ostentatious display or exhibition.
Etymology 4
Noun
ostent (plural ostents)
(obsolete) A minute (60 seconds).
Usage notes
• Distinguished in medieval times from the "minute" that was one tenth of an hour, or six modern minutes.
Anagrams
• Teston, Tetons, Totnes, notest, teston
Source: Wiktionary
Os"tent, n. Etym: [L. ostentus, ostentum, fr. ostendere (p. p. ostensus and ostentus) to show. See Ostensible.]
1. Appearance; air; mien. Shak.
2. Manifestation; token; portent. Dryden. We asked of God that some ostent might clear Our cloudy business, who gave us sign. Chapman.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
24 December 2024
INTUITIVELY
(adverb) in an intuitive manner; “inventors seem to have chosen intuitively a combination of explosive and aggressive sounds as warning signals to be used on automobiles”
Coffee Trivia
