- Today's Word
Gemmelity
[jem-mel-i-tee]
Definition
- (noun) A delightful portmanteau of “gemmel” (twin) and “felicity” (intense happiness), this term describes the sublime joy and rapture experienced when witnessing the stunning duality or twin aspects of nature’s beauty, evoking a sense of resplendent bliss.
Example
The breathtaking vista of the twin waterfalls cascading into a crystalline pool below was a true gemmelity, the harmonious duality of the roaring torrents and the serene basin below creating a resplendent scene that filled the onlookers with a sense of profound felicity and awe.
Fun Fact
The concept of “gemmelity” celebrates the idea that certain natural phenomena or environments possess a beautiful duality or twin aspect that, when experienced together, evokes a profound sense of happiness and blissful rapture. It suggests that the harmony and resplendence found in the interplay of contrasting yet complementary natural elements can ignite the soul with a sublime sense of felicity, creating an experience of pure, gemmelity-inducing joy.
(noun) A natural craving or strong desire; an instinctive inclination toward something
She couldn’t explain her appetence for solo travel — it was simply part of who she was.
Appetence comes from the Latin appetentia, derived from appetere — meaning “to strive after” or “to desire” — itself a combination of ad (“toward”) and petere (“to seek” or “to aim at”). The word entered English in the 17th century, used by philosophers and naturalists to describe instinctive drives in both humans and animals.