Xanthous
xan·thous [zænθəs] adj. Of the color intermediate between green and orange in the color spectrum; of something resembling the color of an egg yolk.
Synonyms: yellow, yellowish
Etymology: 1829, from Greek xanthos "yellow," of unknown origin. Prefix form xantho- is used in many scientific words; cf. xanthein (1857) "soluble yellow coloring matter in flowers," Huxley's Xanthochroi (1867) "blond, light-skinned races of Europe" (with okhros "pale"), xanthophyll (1838) "yellow coloring matter in autumn leaves."
Man, there are seriously very few words that start with X that have interesting etymologies. Enjoy your day off!
15 comments:
x is a difficult letter.
I just had to name some for Nick Wilford's ongoing story and there are maybe thirty-five words in the dictionary beginning with X.
This word is new to me :)
And you managed to find one that I didn't know.
I have never heard of this word before but well done on a good post for X,
Yvonne.
Wow, I almost did xanthus today, not kidding...I went with xiphias instead! Lacey on Latin Words:-)
You and Nancy LaRonda Johnson practically picked the same word today. Cool coincidence. I'm doing Xenophobia. I think like 50% of people are doing X-Men.
Another new word for me as well.
That color will never find its way into a box of Crayola 64.
I had forgotten all about this word. I probably haven't used it since high school biology.
I have to agree with Susan - I doubt this will make it into a box of crayons. :)
I love this word, and the other words of Greek origin with the xanth- root. One of my favorite fancy words for blonde is xanthochroid, since I discovered it in the thesaurus at age twelve. The Greek name Xanthe, which means "blonde," is also a favorite name. X is one of my favoritest letters, period.
That's a lovely word. I shall try to use it often!
Thanks for your work on the A to Z Challenge - just using today to get round people not in line of fire from the upper reaches of the list!
Jemima at Jemima's blog
Funny. I was reading one of my grandsons a kids alphabet book that had this word for X.
Makes me think of xanthum gum or however that thickening agent is spelled...and also of what happens when you try to make deviled eggs and get that hideous green ring around the yolk cuz you overboiled them. Hmmm...might have to go make some. Suddenly craving deviled eggs!
Tina @ Life is Good
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