Fwd: orrery: Dictionary.com Word of the Day

[Dave Monroe]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Dictionary.com" <doctor at dictionary.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 00:00:03 -0700
Subject: orrery: Dictionary.com Word of the Day
To: Word of the Day Subscriber <against.the.dave at gmail.com>

Word of the Day for Monday, September 16, 2013

orrery \AWR-uh-ree, OR-\, noun:
1. an apparatus for representing the positions, motions, and phases of
the planets, satellites, etc., in the solar system.
2. any of certain similar machines, as a planetarium.

 For part of the clock was an orrery: a mechanical model of the
 solar system that displayed the current positions of the planets
 and many of their moons.
 -- Neal Stephenson, Anathem, 2010

 But now he lies in hospital, mortally ill; and while his orrery
 still rests on the grand cherrywood desk, his photograph still
 hangs on the office wall (smiling mirthlessly, like a king who
 has wearied of his crown) and his iridescent fish still shimmer
 through the gloom of the aquarium on the dresser, his many
 bookcases are empty, save for dust and a single stress-busting
 executive toy like a hastily planted flag.
 -- Paul Murray, Skippy Dies, 2010

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Orrery is an eponym named after Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery.
Orrery was the patron of George Graham who created a mechanical
model of solar system. It entered English in the early 1700s.

Read the full entry:
<http://www.dictionary.com/browse/orrery>

See synonyms:
<http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/orrery>

Comment on today's word:
<http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=109125464873&style=1>

_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._

Dictionary.com Word of the Day
http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/

http://www.thomaspynchon.com/mason-dixon/alpha/o.html

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9909&msg=41477

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0401&msg=87937

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=1006&msg=149462

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=1209&msg=167862