Saturday, September 6, 2014

Word of the Day


curlicue
 \ KUR-li-kyoo \, noun;  
1.
an ornamental, fancy curl or twist, as in a signature.

Quotes:
Line by line, alphabet curlicue  by curlicue , note by note, the two of them finicked with each piece of music, her jotting, him resonating.
-- Ivan Doig, "Prairie Nocturne ," 2003

I went into the hallway and looked in the front of the telephone directory where my father had penciled Angela's number, her name written in fancy curlicue  letters he had doodled while standing in that very spot.
-- Jill McCorkle, "Ferris Beach ," 1990

Origin:
Curlicue  came to English in the mid-1800s. The cue  component comes from the French queue  meaning "tail," and ultimately is derived from the Latin word cōda .

Dictionary.com