Balafon (noun)
bal-u-fon
A large xylophone with hollow gourds as resonators, used in West African music.
Via French from Manding bala ‘xylophone’ + fo ‘to play’.
Plafond (noun)
pla-fon
An ornately decorated ceiling.
French, from plat ‘flat’ + fond ‘bottom, base’.
It’s a little over two minutes of hilarity, who has the best beard, who has the best friends? Watch and laugh and then you decide, who won the epic rap battle! Read More
Bergschrund (adj)
Burg-sh-rund
A crevasse at the junction of a glacier or snowfield with a steep upper slope.
Mid 19th century: from German, from Berg ‘mountain’ + Schrund ‘crevice’.
The ‘candid photographs’ and ‘touching letters’ were unearthed from a Glasgow archive and will form part of a new exhibition celebrating the company’s 200th anniversary. Read More
Dahabeeyah (noun)
daa-haa-bee-ah
A large passenger boat used on the Nile, typically with lateen sails.
Mid 19th century: from Arabic, literally ‘golden’, denoting the gilded state barge formerly used by the Muslim rulers of Egypt.
Seditious (adj)
sed-ish-us
Inciting or causing people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch.
Late Middle English: from Old French seditieux or Latin seditiosus, from seditio ‘mutinous separation’ (see sedition).
This birthday the Duchess is working with the Literacy Trust to create an initiative called The Duchess’s Bookshelves and what this means in reality is books for schools up and down the country! Read More