Life's like that!

February 25, 2004

WORD OF THE DAY
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Asinine, a. Also 7­8 ass-.
[ad. L. asin_nus, f. asinus ass: see -ine1.]
1. Of or pertaining to asses.
1624 Bolton Nero 246 Her fiue hundred female asses..her asinine dayrie.
1641 Milton Educ. Wks. 1738 I. 137 That asinine feast of sowthistles.
1873 Longfellow Monk Casal Magg. 157 Since monkish flesh and asinine are one.
2. Having the qualities by which the ass is characterized; obstinate, stupid, doltish.
c1610 Chapman Iliad, To Reader 225 Your asinine souls, Proud of their burdens, feel not how they gall.
1781 Cowper Convers. 209 ’Tis the most asinine employ on earth, To hear them tell of parentage and birth.
1859 Helps Friends in C. Ser. ii. I. ii. 153 And I..should be asinine enough to go.

Asininity
[f. prec. + -ity.]
Asinine quality; stupidity.
1831 Fraser’s Mag. Aug., Ears beyond the usual dimensions of asin[in]ity asinine.
1860 J. Kennedy Quodlibet vi. 88 Meek, even to a degree of asininity, in his demeanor.