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Word of the Day – Chiaroscuro

By October 12, 2023Word of the Day

Chiaroscuro (noun)

kee-aro-scoo-ro

The distribution of light and shade in a picture.

Chiaroscuro was first recorded in English between 1680–90, and comes from Italian and is composed of chiaro, meaning “bright,” and oscuro, meaning “dark.”
From chiaro comes the English word clear, “free from darkness; light,” and from oscuro comes obscure, “not clear” or “lacking in light.”

Example sentences

“The photograph captured the beautiful chiaroscuro of the sunset across the mountains.”

Word of the Day – Medley

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Medley (noun) med-lee a mixture, especially of heterogeneous elements; hodgepodge; jumble. First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English noun and adjective medle(e), medlei(e), maedlai(e) “battle, war, quarrel; mixture, balanced mixture,” from…

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