bayou

Pronounced: BY-you, noun

Notes: I know the word from reading and television, but I was at a loss to properly define it.

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Yesterday’s word

The word fimbriated means “having the edge or extremity bordered by slender processes: fringed

Background / Comments

This word comes from Latin fimbriatus (fringed). I was puzzled by the word “processes” in the definition. In this sense, processes means “prominent or projecting parts of an organism or organic structure”. Although fimbriated can be used as a synonym for “fringed”, it is commonly used to refer to anatomical features. Interestingly, the Latin word fimbriatus comes from fimbria (fringe). The plural of fimbria is fimbriae, which became frimbia in Vulgar Latin, which was taken into Anglo-French as frenge, and came into English as fringe. Thus, fringe and our word come from a common source, but came into English via different paths.

First usage

The word showed up in the late 1400s