belvedere (BEL-vi-deer, bel-vi-DEER), noun

1. a building or part of a building especially constructed for a view of the scenery, such as a turret, gallery, gazebo, pavilion, tower, or summerhouse .
2. a type of cigar

[Italian, “beautiful view,” < Latin bellus “beautiful” + videre “to see.”]

Each of his three brothers tried to outdo the others, building big houses nearby. But with its towering belvedere, oriel windows and broad verandas, Jedidiah's was the largest and most flamboyant. –Marcelle S. Fischler, ‘Long Island Journal; A Jamesport Grande Dame Gets a Face-Lift,’ NYTimes, Aug. 21, 2005

He led the way up two flights of stairs and then up a shorter one, which landed us upon a belvedere on the house-top. "Be pleased to look around you," he said, as we reached the platform, "and tell me if this is the Boston of the nineteenth century." At my feet lay a great city. –Edward Bellamy, ‘Looking Backward: 2000-1887’

A delightful [bicycle]tour goes from the Père Lachaise cemetery to the trendy Canal St.-Martin, with a stop in the Parc de Belleville, which offers a beautiful view of Paris from its belvedere. –Elaine Sciolino, ‘What’s Doing; In Paris,’ NYTimes, Oct. 10, 2004

Reiman and Ms. Mellors have offices on the upper level, which has one of the house’s most prized features: a belvedere with a spectacular view of the entire valley. –Kimberly Conniff Taber, NYTImes, ‘In France, a House of No Doors and Ample Light,’ July 30, 2008

A home with a belvedere on the roof built near Chicago by William Currier about 1856.

docent (DOH - suhnt), noun

1. at some universities a teacher or lecturer not a regular faculty member
2. an knowledgeable person who guides people through a museum or other exhibitions and provides commentary

1639, from L. docentem, from docere "to teach"


At the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida the surrealist paintings began to fascinate us because of the enlightening comments of the docent . Without him we may have never noticed the hidden optical trickery and wizardry of Dali which when once pointed out became magically unforgettable. Other places using docents : botanical gardens, manufacturing plants giving tours (Busch Gardens), United States Congress, The White House, U. S. Supreme Court, Historic Homes, and so on and on and on. -dAb

I had gone to the Huntington Library to speak to their docents. When I got home, I noticed a lot of messages on my voice mail, which seemed strange. I accessed them to find friends congratulating me on having won the Pulitzer Prize in History . . . –Daniel Walker Howe, Oxford University Press blog, April 22, 2008

Living with this self-appointed curator and docent probably isn’t a bed of roses. We’re talking about a man who once collected worn strips of masking tape that he pulled off the floor of a gymnasium, a man who collects the business cards of business card printers, even though he himself carries no business card. –Henry Alford, ‘The Curator’, NYTimes, July 27, 2008

Zermelo had been a docent at Göttingen when Kit was there and, like Russell, had been preoccupied with the set of all sets that are not members of themselves. -Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 1212

To say of a docent that he is a poor teacher is usually to pronounce an academic sentence of death, even if he is the foremost scholar in the world. –Max Weber, ‘Science As a Vocation’

Unlike professors, docents may not actively take part in senior administrative duties, such as heading a department. Furthermore, their stay at the university may be intermittent, whereas professors are permanent. Instead of a monthly salary, lecturing fees and piece wages are usually paid. -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docent

Socrates, and after him Arcesilaus, made their schollers to speak first and then would speake themselves. Obest plerum que iis qui discere vol unt, auctoritas eorum qui docent (Cic. De Nat. i.). 'Most commonly the authoritie of them that teach, hinders them that would learne.' It is therefore meet that he make him first trot-on before him, whereby he may the better judge of his pace, . . . –Montaigne, Essays: Book I

CROSSING BORDERS:BRIDGING CULTURES, TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA : OCTOBER 14 - 17, 2009 http://www.docents.net/ National Docent Symposium Council

Cyclist manqué? -

manqué (mahng-KEY, -KAY; Fr. mahn-keh) adjective

having failed, missed, or fallen short, esp. because of circumstances or a defect of character; unsuccessful; unfulfilled or frustrated (usually used postpositively): a poet manqué who never produced a single book of verse. –Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2006

Unfulfilled or frustrated in the realization of one's ambitions or capabilities: an artist manqué; a writer manqué.

[French, from past participle of manquer, to fail, from Old French, from Old Italian mancare, from manco, lacking, from Latin mancus, maimed, infirm; see man- in Indo-European roots.]-Ame. Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed.

The politician in Mr. Williams has won out over the manic Jonathan Winters manque of ''Mork and Mindy.'' Franz Lidz and Steve Rushin, Arts, ‘Here a Comic Genius, There A Comic Genius,’ NYTImes Jan 30, 2000

The president manqué gives Rielle Hunter, formerly Lisa Druck, more than $114,000 to shoot vain little videos for his Web site (even though she’s a neophyte), one of which is scored with the song “True Reflections” about the Narcissus pool, which goes: “When you look into a mirror, do you like what’s looking at you? Now that you’ve seen your true reflections, what on earth are you gonna do?” –Maureen Dowd, Opinion, NYTimes, Aug. 10, 2008

Odets, who collected art, was also something of a painter manque. When he had insomnia or writers' block, he turned to making small, charged, cartoonishly expressionistic paintings on paper, mostly in combinations of watercolor, ink and gouache. –Roberta Smith, Art Review; ‘Anguish of Many Colors in Paintings by Odets,’ NYTImes, April 26, 1996

A book critic accumulates a serious library. But an architecture critic? There is architectural drawing, but it has always seemed so much art manque. That's why I began to collect tiny toy buildings -- what other way short of investing in real estate is there to build a collection of architecture? -Paul Boldberger, ‘Endpaper/Life and Times,’ NYTimes, Sept. 12, 1993

With Graham, it was always difficult to tell where the spy novelist left off and the spy manque began. From time to time they came together--as in 1977, when Graham turned up in Washington in the guise of a Panamanian diplomat… -Michael Korda, ‘Life and Letters; about writer Graham Greene, The Third Man,’ The New Yorker, March 25, 1996

sublimate (SUHB-luh-meyt) verb , noun, adj.

transitive verb:
1. Chemistry : To transform directly from the solid to the gaseous state or from the gaseous to the solid state without becoming a liquid.
2. Psychology : To modify the natural expression or divert the energy associated with an unacceptable impulse or drive into a personally and socially acceptable activity.
3. To make nobler or purer

intransitive verb: to undergo sublimation
noun: Chemistry : the product of the process of sublimation.
adjective: purified, transformed to a higher state, exalted

[Latin subl&#299;m&#257;re, subl&#299;m&#257;t-, “to elevate,” from “subl&#299;mis,” uplifted.]

Related forms:
sublimable (SHUB-luh-muh-buhl), adjective
sublimableness, noun
sublimation, noun
sublimational, adjective

In the occasional Martian heat wave, when the temperature is near freezing, the sunlight is enough to cause ice on the sunny side to sublimate, or turn directly to a gas. –Henry Fountain, ‘Safely rooted on Earth, Scientists Solve and Icy Martian Puzzle,’ NYTimes, March 30, 2004

We are -- and I say this with only love and respect for my family and my in-laws -- uptight, priggish and determined either to sublimate our anxieties with vigorous physical activity in the fresh air or drown them in a steady stream of gin and tonics. –Jennifer Haigh, ‘The Cost of Silence,’ The Washington Post, July 13, 2008

Comparative assay of the constituents from the sublimate of smoked cannabis with that from ordinary cannabis -Dr. C. MIRAS & Dr. S. SIMOS ,J. KIBURIS ,Biochemical Research Laboratory, Therapeutics Clinic, University of Athens

“The whole function of dreaming and of art is to express, vicariously and without danger, the suppressed side of our natures, to sublimate this unconsciousness which, turned back on ourselves, makes morbid people of us. … True Art is essentially ethical. Art should create an imaginary world in which this repressed side of our natures cannot only find expression, but cause it to rise up and be revalued. –Everett Dean Martin (of the People’s Institute), ‘Written on the Screen; With the National Board,’ NYTimes, Jan. 26, 1919

''We are as ugly as animals in our fashion, and unless we deal with the ugliness in ourselves, unless we deal with the violence in ourselves, the brutality in ourselves, and find some way to sublimate it, just to use Freud's term, into something slightly higher, we're never going to get anywhere with anything,'' he said. – Norman Mailier, quoted by Bernard Weinraub, ‘Mailer Tells a Lot,’ NYTimes, Oct. 4, 2000

Below: “Dry Ice,” solid co2, sublimates to it's gaseous state without entering a liquid state

haptic (HAP-tic), adjective

relating to touch and the sense of touch

[Greek haptikos, from haptesthai, to grasp, touch.]

related:
Haptics : a branch of psychology dealing with the sense of touch
haptical : adjective

“Sighted blindfolded children and children with early-onset low vision and early-onset blindness copied raised-line drawings (using only the haptic modality).” – Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness

A specialist in haptics, the study of the human sense of touch, has invented a device that transforms a computer mouse into a conduit through which a user can feel the physical shapes and textures of objects on the screen. –Business Digest, NYTimes, Feb 9, 1998

The Instinct's most gimmicky enhancement is a so-called haptic touch screen, which means that the whole thing vibrates a little each time you tap it. –David Pogue, ‘State Of The Art; An Imitator That Rivals The iPhone,’ NYTimes, June 12, 2008

He envisions using embedded electronics to sharply increase the human capacity for thought and developing so-called haptic systems that would enable one person to physically experience the sensations of someone else. –Barnaby J. Feder, ‘Intriguing possibilities in sensors, an on-ramp for electronics and biotechnology’ , NYTimes, Oct. 7, 2002

''Our critical language is 'haptic poor','' . . . . ''The touchable nature of fiber art throws off most art critics [ who are ] only comfortable with the optic, granting tactile values a very low position on the esthetic totem pole.'' -ibid

I love this word, now that I've learned about it. Thanks for the new knowledge!

Young children may be more aware of their haptic sensations. My little grandaughter has always loved smooth little items. She used to carry around with her tiny pieces of sponge, and especially loved makeup sponges. Her favorite words are 'bubbles,' and 'squishy!'

A hug, a kiss, a caress - all interpersonal haptic experiences.

A haptic professional? - a masseur.

Planish is a recent word and a favorite of mine - a lovely sounding one.

/dAb

illustration at right : A plantigrade bear foot by Leonardo da Vinci




plantigrade

1. adj. walking on the whole sole or palm of the foot
2. noun a plantigrade animal : rabbits, raccoons, bears, humans, mice, skunks

[Latin planta, sole, + gradior, to walk]





“Mr. Minot also complains, in connection with our feet, that we are plantigrade – which is evidently a terrible thing, and inevitably adapted to destroy our self-respect. Perhaps it not too late for us to try to develop hoofs, and if we make the attempt in earnest we may succeed in eliminating the human toe and in providing our descendants with handsome serviceable hoofs, cloven or otherwise; but whether we can become centigrade rather than plantigrade is more than doubtful, and until this is done we must be content to know that we have been made a little lower than the pigs, not to mention horses and cows. . . .“ -‘The Really Lower Animal,’ NYTimes, June 16, 1882

unguligrade(ung-gyoo-lee-grahd)

1. adj. walking on hooves
2. noun an unguligrade animal : horse, cow, sheep, goat, deer, bison, pig, giraffes, rhinoceroses,

[Latin ungula hoof + gradi to walk.]


“Thus we may see,” say Captain Hayes, “that the horse is an animal which moves on the tips of his fingers and toes (unguligrade); and that he has only one toe (or finger) to each leg.” - “The Veterinarian,” Our Animal Friends: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, p. 20 (1895)

Because the weight of the animal is borne by two toes, this is referred to as a paraxonic foot, and the posture is unguligrade. The artiodactyls (pigs, deer, bison, elk, etc.) all have this type of foot, balancing on the last bone of the toe, much like a ballet dancer. –Renn Tumlison, ‘Nature Trivia,’ www.hsu.edu

Comes with satyr lower body skin, goat horns, satyr tail, prim hair, unguligrade legs, and hooves. –from a costume advertisement

I've been working on a secondary incarnation of that satyr/faun costume I mentioned before. I'm leaving off the stilts this time - the physical risks are too severe and it far exceeds my budget. That said, I may have found a viable option for digitigrade/ unguligrade leg design that's going to be vastly more comfortable, safe (especially in child-ridden areas), requisite of far less physical training for operation, and still visually effective,. . . –ofthewood, at Livejournal.com, Dec. 19, 2007

The Draenei are taxonomically similar to the Protoss in Blizzard's Starcraft storyline. Both races are blue skinned with blue tinted blood, and both employ bipedal unguligrade locomotion. - http://www.wowwiki.com/Exodar_draenei

digitigrade

1. adj. walking on the toes, as most four-legged animals do.
2. noun, a digitigrade animal : cats, dogs, horses, birds, bipedal dinosaurs

[Latin digitus, toe; see digit + Latin gradus, step]


“But the digitigrade modification necessitated a change of structural plan, to the extent of raising the wrist and ankle joints off the ground, so as to make the quadruped walk on its fingers and toes. We meet with an interesting case of this transition in the existing hare, which while at rest supports itself on the whole hind foot after the manner of a plantigrade animal, but when running does so upon the ends of its toes, after the manner of a digitigrade animal.” –George John Romanes, Darwin and After Darwin, p. 182, (1910)

A high-falutin’ Tiny Tim, he no longer walks on “tiptoes”, instead he walks digitigrade “through the tulips.”

Werewolves will often find it hard to wear high heels, despite the natural ability to walk digitigrade. Besides, a Werewolf in high heels would look silly! -wikihow.com, ‘How to Get the Werewolf Look’

The only digitigrade primate species is the human female ballet dancer. –‘Grimm’s Law’ http://www.prismnet.com/~dierdorf/ww-42.html