Pronounced: ay-LAHN
Notes: I’ve run across this word in reading, but I wasn’t sure of the meaning
Yesterday’s word
The word xerophilous means “adapted to a very dry or desert environment”
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Background / Comments
As I noted yesterday, I recognized part of the word — the suffix -philous (liking). The prefix is xero- (dry) — both of these came from the Greek language.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 