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May 15, 2025
This week¡¯s theme
Interesting usage examples
This week¡¯s words
Photo:
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg
ruderal
PRONUNCIATION:
(ROO-duhr-uhl)
MEANING:
adjective: Growing in waste places, disturbed land, or poor soil.
noun: A plant that thrives in such conditions.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin rudus (rubble). Earliest documented use: 1835.
USAGE:
¡°Karl Linneaus revolutionized the way in which [taxonomy] was done. In
fact, he courted controversy at the time, using quite explicit s¦Åxual
descriptions, such as ¡®nine men in the same bride¡¯s chamber, with one
woman¡¯! [Octandria Monogynia] The German botanist, Johann Siegesbeck,
referred to Linnaeus¡¯ work as ¡®lothesome harlotry¡¯, though Linnaeus,
believing in revenge as a dish best served well and truly chilled,
retorted with taxonomic vengeance, naming a small and insignificant
little ruderal plant ()
after his accuser.¡±
Keith Skene; Form, Function, Forests, and Fossils; Contemporary Review
(Oxford, UK); Dec 2011.
See more usage examples of in Vocabulary.com¡¯s .
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The past is never where you think you left it. -Katherine Anne Porter,
writer and activist (15 May 1890-1980)
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