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Whirligig

'(h)wərlēˌgig

April 20, 2016 posted by John

noun

1. a toy that spins around, for example, a top or a pinwheel.
• another term for merry-go-round.
2. [ in sing. ] a thing regarded as hectic or constantly changing: the whirligig of time.
3. (also whirligig beetle) a small black predatory beetle that swims rapidly in circles on the surface of still or slow-moving water and dives when alarmed.
• [Family Gyrinidae: Gyrinus and other genera.]

adjective of or relating to the extreme north.

ORIGIN ORIGIN late Middle English: from whirl + obsolete gig 'a top.'

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Ytterbium

iˈtərbēəm

April 13, 2016 posted by John

noun the chemical element of atomic number 70, a silvery-white metal of the lanthanide series.(Symbol: Yb)

ORIGIN late 19th cent.: modern Latin, from Ytterby, the name of a Swedish town where it was first found in a quarry.

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Ornithology

ôrnəˈTHäləjē

April 6, 2016 posted by John

noun the scientific study of birds.

DERIVATIVES
ornithological | ôrniTHə'läjikəl| adjective
ornithologically | ôrniTHə'läjik(ə)lē| adverb
ornithologist |-jist| noun

ORIGIN late 17th cent.: from modern Latin ornithologia, from Greek ornithologos 'treating of birds.'

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