Ready to learn a new word? Excellent! Join me for Kathy’s Wondrous Words Wednesday meme and nurture your inner word nerd.
My word today comes from the book Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloane. It’s a clever little novel that explores the intersection of “old knowledge” and “new technology.” I’ll be posting a full review on Friday, so come back!
penumbra \pə-‘nəm-brə\ noun, from the Latin paene almost + umbra shadow; a space of 
partial illumination (as in an eclipse) between the perfect shadow on all sides and the full light; something that covers, surrounds, or obscures; a shroud.
This fits perfectly, as Mr. Penumbra is involved in an obscure mystery that dates back to the advent of the printing press! What a great character name!
Word Nerd Workout
Use penumbra in a sentence. For example,
In John Green’s novel Paper Towns, Margo Roth Spiegleman hides her true personality behind a penumbra of mystery.
Your turn!
Hope you learn a lot today. Find more word nerd words at Kathy’s site.
Thanks for stopping by.
Julia
I love, luhrv, lOVE, this word. It always evokes the best almost-to-the-dark-side-of-the-moon images.
Thankies for the weekly mental word workout!
Thanks for defining the name of the title character in the book! My friend’s been telling me about this wonderful novel and urging me to read it. I’ll have to check out your review on Friday…
Um…sentence, sentence, you’re testing weak brain power. It’s lost somewhere in the penumbrum of after-school chores, piano lessons, and homework I’m supposed to be supervising…I think I totally messed up that word 🙂
So, metaphorically speaking, penumbra is almost synonymous with “shroud” or “cloud” or something you can partially see through, but in actuality it refers to a shadowed region? Interesting!
You’ve got it Dianne! Nice sum up!
Wow, I’m impressed with everyone’s sentences so far. Let me see if I can think of one. The proceedings were surrounded by a penumbra of secrecy much to the constituents dismay.
Julia, I don’t know if this is a good sentence or not and I’m almost unsure of sharing it. ???? 😉 Perhaps this word needs some work for my understanding.
“What penumbra inhibits the light of Christ from being evidenced in our lives?”
God bless your week,
Hester, 😉
I think it works. Very profound, Hester. Thanks for working out with me and for being brave enough to share!
The mother-to-be is cloaked in a penumbra of enigma; her pregnant belly protects the miracle to come, while her radiant face reveals the joy within.
Shout out to One Trailing Spouse – you are a beautiful mama-to-be! Check out her pregnancy pics on Facebook!
Very nice, Nicole. And yay for One Trailing Spouse too. I never felt radiant when I was pregnant, but Emily sure fits your sentence!