Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Word of the Day

favonian
 \fuh-VOH-nee-uhn\, adjective;  
1.of or pertaining to the west wind.
2.mild or favorable; propitious.

Quotes:
It wanders, with ecstasy, through groves adorned with perennial verdure, while Favonian gales perfume the ever-smiling skies.
-- Richard Lobb, "Reflections on Winter," The Contemplative Philosopher, 1817

Pour’d a profusion of delicious teas,/ Which, wafted by a soft favonian breeze,/ Supply’d the wat’ry deities.
-- Mercy Otis Warren, “The Squabble of the Sea Nymphs,” Boston Gazette, 1774

And the weather was hardly favonian—it couldn't have been much worse.
-- Tom Parrett, "Down the River and Over the Sea," Motor Boating & Sailing, 1980

Origin:
Favonian comes from Favonius, the ancient Roman personification of the west wind. The word entered English in the mid-1600s.

Dictionary.com