Word of the Day for Sunday, November 4, 2012

siesta \see-ES-tuh\,
noun:
A midday or afternoon rest or nap.

Among the Yangüesans it was customary for them and their teams to spend the siesta in places providing grass and water, and the spot where Don Quixote happened to be was very much to their liking.
-- Miguel De Cervantes, "Don Quixote"

At noon I closed the shop, but still I was reluctant to leave those three rooms filled with merchandise, and I lay down among some grain sacks to get through the heat of the siesta.
-- Isabel Allende, "Eva Luna"

While siesta is associated with Latin America, its origin is in the Latin sexta hōra, meaning "sixth hour," or noon.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day