CYMOTRICHOUS
Wild Word Friday!
Last week 14-year-old Sukanya Roy won the 84th Scripps National Spelling Bee by spelling the word CYMOTRICHOUS. If you saw the video clip, you probably noticed that she had a little twinkle in her eye as she spelled the word, which I took to mean that she knew how to spell it right from the start – no guessing involved. Some kids just blow me away. Congratulations, Sukanya!
When I hear or see a word I don’t know, I’m immediately curious. I had to look up CYMOTRICHOUS. I thought the definition would be something technical and beyond my understanding, so I was surprised to find that CYMOTRICHOUS means to have wavy hair.
Wow, I’m CYMOTRICHOUS and didn’t even know it. It makes me feel a bit better to know there’s a huge word for the reason I’ve had bad hair days all my life!
We have the Greek language to thank for the word CYMOTRICHOUS. It is a compound noun made up of two Greek words. Kyma – which means wavy or swollen. (Anybody out there with CYMOTRICHOUS hair on a humid day understands that connection.) The second word is thrix or tricho– which means hair.
So what about you? Are you CYMOTRICHOUS?
Blessings!
Sue