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prettygoodwordpremorse (pri-MAWRS) - adj., ending abruptly and unevenly, as if bitten off.
Current use is mostly botanical, but I can see a use in literary criticism, especially when reviewing books that are installments of a series-that's-one-long-story. Borrowed around 1750 from Latin praemorsus, bitten off in front, the past participle of praemordēre, from prae-, before + mordēre, to bite. One wonders if the Romans used that of noses.
---L.
Current use is mostly botanical, but I can see a use in literary criticism, especially when reviewing books that are installments of a series-that's-one-long-story. Borrowed around 1750 from Latin praemorsus, bitten off in front, the past participle of praemordēre, from prae-, before + mordēre, to bite. One wonders if the Romans used that of noses.
---L.
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Date: 2010-09-23 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 06:12 pm (UTC)---L.