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.
WAFTING
Verb
wafting
present participle of waft
Noun
wafting (plural waftings)
An instance of wafting; the action of something that wafts.
Source: Wiktionary
WAFT
Waft, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wafted; p. pr. & vb. n. Wafting.] Etym: [Prob. originally imp. & p. p. of wave, v. t. See Wave to waver.]
1. To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. [Obs.] But soft: who wafts us yonder Shak.
2. To cause to move or go in a wavy manner, or by the impulse of waves, as of water or air; to bear along on a buoyant medium; as, a balloon was wafted over the channel. A gentle wafting to immortal life. Milton. Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul, And waft a sigh from Indus to the pole. Pope.
3. To cause to float; to keep from sinking; to buoy. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.
Note: This verb is regular; but waft was formerly somwafted.
Waft, v. i.
Definition: To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float. And now the shouts waft near the citadel. Dryden.
Waft, n.
1. A wave or current of wind. "Everywaft of the air." Longfellow. In this dire season, oft the whirlwind's wing Sweeps up the burden of whole wintry plains In one wide waft. Thomson.
2. A signal made by waving something, as a flag, in the air.
3. An unpleasant flavor. [Obs.]
4. (Naut.)
Definition: A knot, or stop, in the middle of a flag. [Written also wheft.]
Note: A flag with a waft in it, when hoisted at the staff, or half way to the gaff, means, a man overboard; at the peak, a desire to communicate; at the masthead, "Recall boats."
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
2 April 2025
COVERT
(adjective) secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; “covert actions by the CIA”; “covert funding for the rebels”
Coffee Trivia
