AD-um-brayt
(verb) To foreshadow or suggest something partially or vaguely.
The novel adumbrates a political crisis that mirrors real-world tensions.
Fun Fact
From Latin “adumbratus,” meaning “to shadow or sketch out,” the term is common in literary and legal contexts. In Supreme Court opinions, justices may adumbrate future positions without making full arguments.
SEM-uh-for
(noun) a system of conveying information through visual signals, often using flags, lights, or mechanical arms, especially over long distances.
Before modern radio communication, ships relied on semaphore to send urgent messages across open water.
Semaphore comes from the early 19th-century French word sémaphore, which itself is rooted in the Greek words sēma (meaning “sign”) and phoros (meaning “bearing” or “carrying”), literally translating to “sign-bearer.” The term was first used to describe mechanical signaling towers across France that transmitted messages visually from station to station long before electrical communication existed.
Fun Fact
Semaphore comes from the early 19th-century French word sémaphore, which itself is rooted in the Greek words sēma (meaning “sign”) and phoros (meaning “bearing” or “carrying”), literally translating to “sign-bearer.” The term was first used to describe mechanical signaling towers across France that transmitted messages visually from station to station long before electrical communication existed.
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