by Kevin Burton
Not sure who at the Dictionary Scoop website has deemed himself/herself worthy to determine the most beautiful words in English, but here goes.
I bring you the website’s choices below. It’s at least the starting point for an argument. And since there can’t possibly be an ending point to such a subjective argument (beauty being in the ear of the listener), let’s just take the list as it is. Enjoy!!
1 Serendipity
“A fortunate but unexpected discovery. Most scientific breakthroughs come this way!”
“The word can be traced back to an ancient Persian tale about three princes from a far-away country called Serendip (or Serendippo in some versions) that, with a mix of wisdom and lucky accidents, navigate their way through many seemingly impossible challenges.”
2 Idyllic
“According to the Cambridge Dictionary, “an idyllic place or experience is extremely pleasant, beautiful, or peaceful.” A clear-skied afternoon spent in a colorful meadow, a summer spent at your lovely grandmother’s house on the outskirts of town, a calm and beautiful beach under a cliffside, hidden from view, these are all possible examples of idyllic places. In Ancient Greece, an idyll was also a short poem descriptive of rustic life–which may explain why we tend to associate this word with nature and simple things.
3 Sequoia
“As you may already know, sequoias are coniferous redwood trees that can be found mostly in Northern California. They are the largest trees on Earth! These towering giants were named after Sequoya, a Cherokee man who devised a system of writing for his people’s language.”
4 Gossamer
“A very poetic word, it can refer either to “a film of cobwebs floating in the air in calm clear weather,” or to something delicate and insubstantial: the gossamer of midsummer dreams. In Middle English, it used to refer to a warm spell during late autumn, when geese are in season – literally “goose summer.” Moreover, the association of the word with light or delicate elements, such as cobwebs, likely stems from the silk-like texture of goose down.
5 Petrichor
“The pleasant scent of rain or, more specifically, the scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. Derived from Ancient Greek roots, “petra” signifies rock or stone, while “ichor” refers to a fluid associated with the blood of the Gods.”
“When water falls to the ground, air bubbles trapped within the soil are displaced, forming aerosols that carry scents as well as some microorganisms. Humans can perceive it, as our noses are capable of discerning one of the main released compounds, geosmin, at concentrations as low as 0.4 parts per billion.”
6 Aurora
“Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn, and like its Greek counterpart Eos, it carries the linguistic root of an earlier Indo-European word also relating to the dawn of the day. Traditionally, it is also the given name of the princess of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty .”
“Nowadays, we tend to associate it mostly with the Aurora Borealis (or Aurora Australis if it is located in the southern hemisphere), a natural electromagnetic phenomenon seen in high-latitude regions.”
7 Cynosure
“A cynosure, literally Greek for “dog’s tail,” is a guiding principle, something or someone that is the center of attention. However, it was originally used to refer to the North Star, or even the entire Ursa Minor constellation, since it was extensively used for navigation.”
8 Eudaemonia
“This Ancient Greek word (notice a pattern?) refers to a blissful state of being happy, healthy, and prosperous, usually translated as “happiness” or “welfare.” It can also appear as eudaimonia or eudemonia. ”
“According to Aristotle, eudaemonia is the highest good for humans, and the goal of practical philosophy is to better understand this state or experience in order to find a way to achieve it.”
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