There are endless gorgeous descriptions of nature in this book. If it's not clear by now I recommend it. This word sounded familiar to me but it turns out I didn't know it after all. Purlieu - an outlying or adjacent district. Environ, neighborhood And here is the sentence, from The Orchard Keeper: "Far below …
new words – mendicant and gramarye
Mendicant has two definitions, the first being a beggar, but I think the second definition fits better here. Mendicant - a member of a religious order (such as the Franciscans) combining monastic life and outside religious activity and originally owning neither personal nor community property. A friar Gramarye - necromancy, magic, enchantment Here is the …
new words – isinglass
A pretty word I've not seen before, an obscure definition but one I might try to use in the future. Isinglass - a semitransparent whitish very pure gelatin prepared from the air bladders of fishes and used especially as a clarifying agent and in jellies and glue The sentence, from The Orchard Keeper: "The lights …
new words – carillon and seafan
This is turning out to be such a beautiful book, and this is one of my favorite moments yet. I love nature writing in general, and McCarthy is so good at capturing the beauty of nature and mundane humanity at once. Carillon - a set of fixed chromatically tuned bells sounded by hammers controlled from …
new words – vespertine
I was familiar with the word vesper, so I knew what this meant, but the sentence is too good not to share, and it's true that this use of the word is new to me. Vespertine - of, relating to, or occurring in the evening The sentence, still from The Orchard Keeper: "They moved out …
Jonas David 