Pronounced: less-ay-ah-LAY, noun
Notes: Also spelled laisser-aller; a new word to me
Yesterday’s word
The word halcyon means
- of or relating to the kingfisher
- calm; peaceful
- happy; golden
- prosperous; affluent
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid- to late 1300s
Background / Comment
I knew the third definition above, but certainly not the first one. However, the background of the word makes sense: In Greek mythology, Alkyone, a daughter of the god of the winds, was very upset when her husband was killed in a shipwreck. So was so distraught that she threw herself into the sea and was changed into a kingfisher. The Greeks called these birds alkyon (or halkyon). Legends say that the birds built floating nests on the sea, where they were able to charm the wind god so that unusual calm would last until the eggs hatched. Thus, the word referred to the kingfisher, and then to the calm, and then spread to the other meanings.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 