pavonine
/ˈpævəˌnaɪn/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Possessing the coloring or iridescence of a peacock feather.
adj
Showy, like a peacock's tail; exhibiting vanity.
Example Sentences
- "These rocks are a schist, and abound with the copper pyrites, which occasionally exhibits a pavonine tarnish. The schist is sometimes of a very deep gray colour, and is then the most rich in metal; sometimes also it has the green[…]"
- "It resembled from a distance porphyry, while much of it had a pavonine lustre, like the argentiferous galena of the Silver States in North America. The great weight suggested one mass of metal, and part of it had evidently been[…]"
- "362. Massive BORNITE, having a pavonine purple tarnish; with dolomite. Kenmare mine, Co. Kerry, Ireland. 363. Massive BORNITE, having a pavonine purple tarnish; with malachite and ochre."
- "In D. kahli the blue of the wings on the upper side is deep pavonine blue, or intense cobalt, confined on the anterior wing to a broad patch above the lower margin near the lower angle, and not invading the cell;[…]"
- "... leaving its present body would find or construct another according to its chief intrinsic qualities and forces, whether those were a leonine magnanimity of courage, a vulpine subtlety of cunning, or a pavonine strut of vanity ."
- "He had me all to himself; whilst his wife abased herself before my companion, he made up for the abasement by a truly pavonine strut and spread of his feathers. Amongst the few items of fact that floated on the torrent of his [lecture were...]"
Etymology
From oblique stem of Latin pāvō, pāvōnis (“peacock, peafowl”) + -ine, ultimately from Latin pāvōnīnus, from pāvō + -īnus.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
more pavonine (comparative)
most pavonine (superlative)