crisscross

Pronounced:

IPA: krɪskrɑ:s
Collegiate Dictionary: kris-krȯs

Function: verb

Inflected forms:

crisscrosses; crisscrossed; crisscrossing

Meanings:

1 : to form a pattern on (something) with lines that cross each other
Examples: [with object] <Several highways crisscross the state.> [no object] <shoelaces that crisscross over the top of the shoe>

2 [with object] : to go from one side of (something) to the other side and come back again
Examples: <Tourists crisscrossed the lake from morning until night.> <Scientists have been crisscrossing the country to collect data.>

commensurate

commensurate \kuh-MEN(T)S-uhr-it; -shuhr-\, adjective:
1. Equal in measure, extent, or duration.
2. Corresponding in size or degree or extent; proportionate.
3. Having a common measure; commensurable; reducible to a common measure; as, commensurate quantities.

A new era, Hoover called it, one that was witnessing breathtaking transformations in traditional ways of life and that demanded commensurate transformations in the institutions and techniques sof government.
— David M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear

It is almost a rule: the successful American–Vanderbilt, Frick, Rockefeller, Hearst, Gates–builds himself a house commensurate with his fortune.
— Michael Knox Beran, The Last Patrician

The Shi’a represent a plurality in Lebanon, where only in recent years they have gained a degree of political power commensurate with their numbers.
— Graham E. Fuller and Rend Rahim Francke, The Arab Shi’a: The Forgotten Muslims

Commensurate is from Late Latin commensuratus, from Latin com-, “with, together” + Late Latin mensuratus, past participle of mensurare, “to measure,” from Latin mensura, “measure.”

diaphanous

diaphanous \dy-AF-uh-nuhs\, adjective:
1. Of such fine texture as to allow light to pass through; translucent or transparent.
2. Vague; insubstantial.

The curtains are thin, a diaphanous membrane that can’t quite contain the light outside.
— Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian

She needed more than diaphanous hope, more than I could give her.
— Tej Rae, “One Hand Extended”, Washington Post, August 12, 2001

Diaphanous ultimately derives from Greek diaphanes, “showing through,” from diaphainein, “to show through, to be transparent,” from dia-, “through” + phainein, “to show, to appear.” It is related to phantom, something apparently sensed but having no physical reality.

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for diaphanous

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) – Cite This Source

di·aph·a·nous /daɪˈæfənəs/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[dahy-af–uh-nuhs] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation

–adjective

1.	very sheer and light; almost completely transparent or translucent.

2.	delicately hazy.

 

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[Origin: 1605–15; < ML diaphanus < Gk diaphan(s) transparent (equiv. to diaphan-, s. of diaphaínein to show through (see dia-, -phane) + -és adj. suffix) + -ous]

—Related forms

di·aph·a·nous·ly, adverb

di·aph·a·nous·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary – Cite This Source

di·aph·a·nous (dī-āf’ə-nəs) Pronunciation Key adj. Of such fine texture as to be transparent or translucent: diaphanous tulle. Characterized by delicacy of form. See Synonyms at airy. Vague or insubstantial: diaphanous dreams of glory. [From Medieval Latin diaphanus, transparent, from Greek diaphanēs, from diaphainein, to be transparent : dia-, dia- + phainein, phan-, to show; see bhā-1 in Indo-European roots.] di’a·pha·ne’i·ty (dī’ə-fə-nē’ĭ-tē), di·aph’a·nous·ness n., di·aph’a·nous·ly adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary – Cite This Source
diaphanous

1614, from M.L. diaphanus, from Gk. diaphanes, from dia- “through” + phainesthai, middle voice form (subject acting on itself) of phainein “to show.”

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

WordNet – Cite This Source

diaphanous

adjective

so thin as to transmit light; “a hat with a diaphanous veil”; “filmy wings of a moth”; “gauzy clouds of dandelion down”; “gossamer cobwebs”; “sheer silk stockings”; “transparent chiffon”; “vaporous silks”

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day Archive – Cite This Source diaphanous

diaphanous was Word of the Day on February 28, 2000.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

On-line Medical Dictionary – Cite This Source diaphanous

diaphanous: in CancerWEB’s On-line Medical Dictionary

On-line Medical Dictionary, © 1997-98 Academic Medical Publishing & CancerWEB

commensurate

commensurate \kuh-MEN(T)S-uhr-it; -shuhr-\, adjective:
1. Equal in measure, extent, or duration.
2. Corresponding in size or degree or extent; proportionate.
3. Having a common measure; commensurable; reducible to a common measure; as, commensurate quantities.

A new era, Hoover called it, one that was witnessing breathtaking transformations in traditional ways of life and that demanded commensurate transformations in the institutions and techniques sof government.
— David M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear

It is almost a rule: the successful American–Vanderbilt, Frick, Rockefeller, Hearst, Gates–builds himself a house commensurate with his fortune.
— Michael Knox Beran, The Last Patrician

The Shi’a represent a plurality in Lebanon, where only in recent years they have gained a degree of political power commensurate with their numbers.
— Graham E. Fuller and Rend Rahim Francke, The Arab Shi’a: The Forgotten Muslims

sourpuss

Pronounced:

IPA: sawɚpʊs
Collegiate Dictionary: sau̇(-ə)r-pu̇s

Function: noun [count]

Plural:

sourpusses

Status: informal

Meaning:

: a person who complains and looks unhappy
Example:
<He’s always complaining. What a sourpuss!>