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transpicuous
Feb. 1st, 2012 07:16 amtranspicuous (tran-SPI-kyu-uhs) - adj., easily seen through or understood.
A less-common synonym of transparent. What's the difference? Well, trans- is of course Latin, meaning through, but while the other half of transparent is from pārēre, the same root that gives us appear, the other half of transpicuous is from specere, to look -- so the emphasis is on the looker's ability rather than the looked-at's quality. Either way, borrowed from Latin in the 1630s, a couple centuries after transparent, and so at a deep disadvantage in the popularity department. Ah, well.
---L.
A less-common synonym of transparent. What's the difference? Well, trans- is of course Latin, meaning through, but while the other half of transparent is from pārēre, the same root that gives us appear, the other half of transpicuous is from specere, to look -- so the emphasis is on the looker's ability rather than the looked-at's quality. Either way, borrowed from Latin in the 1630s, a couple centuries after transparent, and so at a deep disadvantage in the popularity department. Ah, well.
---L.
