prettygoodword: text: words are sexy (Default)
prettygoodword ([personal profile] prettygoodword) wrote2012-01-26 07:30 am

procellous

procellous (proh-SEL-uhs) - adj., stormy.


A rare, literary word, used in the 17th century when someone wanted the era's equivalent of a $20 word. Borrowed in the 1640s from Latin procellōsus, stormy, an adjectival form of procella, a storm. Maybe not a pretty good word, but it's at least good, IMO.

---L.

[identity profile] movingfinger.livejournal.com 2012-01-26 05:11 pm (UTC)(link)
It's better than pretty good, as it is used for the beautiful Procellariidae family of birds.

[identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com 2012-01-26 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
I am disappointed in my dictionaries, as this never came up. But indeed, this is a pretty good word for the stormy petrels and friends and relations.

---L.