April 06, 2008
Sunday, 6th April 2008 : Today's Word is ...
Quaint
Pronunciation : kwa-ynt
1. Charmingly odd, especially in an old-fashioned way
2. Unfamiliar or unusual in character
3. Cleverly made
4. Attractively old-fashioned (but not necessarily authentic)
5. Strange in an interesting or pleasing way
12th century - Via Old French cointe, queinte - clever - Latin cognit - past participle of cognoscere - get to know
old-fashioned, old-world, picturesque, charming, pretty, antiquated, attractive, appealing, strange, peculiar, odd, curious, bizarre, weird, extraordinary, unusual
normal, ordinary, modern
� Sarah Orne Jewett was dismissed by one critic as merely a New England old maid who wrote quaint, plotless sketches of late 19th-century coastal Maine.
� A quaint village was nestled in the valley between two tall mountains.
� It is but a month since they were married and the rice still lingers in the crevices of the pathway down to the quaint old iron-work gate.
� Much will strike the reader as quaint and limited but upon much the writer may not unreasonably plume himself.
� quaintness : Noun
� quaintly : Adverb