Pronounced: uh-PRO-bree-um, noun
Notes: I was pretty close on this one, but I don’t know how well-known it is
Yesterday’s word
The word rococo means
- of or relating to an 18th-century artistic style characterized by fanciful curves and elaborate ornamentation
- excessively ornate or intricate
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Background / Comments
Another word with only one vowel. I knew that our word referred to some particular artistic style, but I was confused and later amused by the second definition. The background I read for our word said that French artists created the rococo style our of rebellion against the baroque style. Our word came from the French word rocaille (use of pebbles and shells in ornamental work; pebble-work). As rococo fell out of style, the second definition arose, and that is what I found amusing: the second definition close enough to one meaning of “baroque” (extravagantly ornate, florid, and convoluted in character or style) that I would consider them synonyms. Pretty amusing for a word that started off in rebellion against the baroque style.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 