The Wonderful World Of Words, 3/29/17

Do you like sailing or boating? If so, then you have probably learned to keep an eye out for this word, especially if you are on the water at night.

DEFINITION:

Noun
A lighthouse
A light-bearer

ETYMOLOGY/ORIGIN:

1548-52
Middle French, "obeliscolychnie"
Greek, "όβελιοκολύχνιον"

PRONUNCIATION:

[awblis-ko-lyke-nee]
LISTEN

SCRABBLE SCORE:

29, but it is not considered an official Scrabble word

USAGE AND EXAMPLES

I see land too : let her bear in with the harbour : I see a good many people on the beach : I see a. light on an OBELISCOLYCHNY. Shorten your sails, said the pilot ; fetch the sounding-line ; we must double that point of land, and mind the sands.

--The Works of Francois Rabelais
by Francois Rabelais, 1807

This OBELISCOLYCHNY has undoubtedly stopped our course, for it has the form of some gesture, some command, and reminds me of the masts of men's ships, as the shell that is the sea's mouth reminds me of the imprint with which the oval quills of vessels sign the violet stomach of Her Who Laughs.

--Three Early Novels
by Alfred Jarry, 2007

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