Gegenschein (noun)
gay-gen-shine
A patch of very faint nebulous light sometimes seen in the night sky opposite the position of the sun. It is thought to be the image of the sun reflected from gas and dust outside the atmosphere.
Late 19th century: German Gegenschein, from gegen ‘opposite’ + Schein ‘glow, shine’.
Example sentences
“But the gegenschein is very faint, a few magnitudes fainter than the Milky Way.”
Wonky (adj) won-kee Not straight or balanced, off kilter. First recorded in 1915–20; perhaps variant of dialectal wanky, equivalent to wank(le) ( Middle English wankel, Old English wancol. (more…)