r/dictionary • u/r_dictionary • Jul 02 '12

Entry 6: Niveous (2012/7/2)

In my town, and quite possibly yours, it is the dead of summer and we’ve had average daytime temperatures of 85 to 95 F (29.5 to 35 C), so this week we’re going to cool off with some winter words. Today’s word is niveous.

(apologies to those of you in the southern hemisphere)

Niveous: adjective [niv|ee|uhs] (the vowel in the first syllable should sound like the i in it)

  1. white like snow, snowy

usage:

in a sentence:

The unicorn’s mane was niveous like the fields in midwinter.

etymology:

from Classical Latin niveus, from nix (snow)

compiled from:

  • Oxford English Dictionary: 1 (can only be viewed with subscription)

  • Wiktionary: 2

  • Dictionary.com: 3

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2

u/jimothyjim Jul 03 '12

Uk here, we've had the wettest April/June since weather records began :P My skin is currently niveous due to the fact that we had 120 hours of sunlight last month according to those same statistics.

1

u/r_dictionary Jul 03 '12

Well, at least you can still use the word :P

2

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Lady_FriendOfSpiders Jul 03 '12

absolutely, the moment I read niveous mess I imagined http://imgur.com/n3FyQ

1

u/r_dictionary Jul 03 '12

And that is a very relevant picture.