In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
SIDEROSTAT
Etymology
Noun
siderostat (plural siderostats)
(astronomy) A heliostat that may be used with stars as well as the sun.
Source: Wiktionary
Sid"er*o*stat, n. Etym: [L. sidus, sideris, a star + Gr. (Astron.)
Definition: An apparatus consisting essentially of a mirror moved by clockwork so as to throw the rays of the sun or a star in a fixed direction; -- a more general term for heliostat.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
1 June 2025
BACKFIRE
(verb) come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect; “Your comments may backfire and cause you a lot of trouble”; “the political movie backlashed on the Democrats”
Coffee Trivia
