Word of the Day Archive
Tuesday July 4, 2006
emblazon \em-BLAY-zuhn\ , transitive verb:
To deck in glaring colors; to set off conspicuously; to display pompously; to decorate.
Three times we stopped at one of the tiny wooden snack shacks that dot Tobago's roadside, all emblazoned with Coke signs, before we found one that had any in stock: It had one bottle.
-- John Henderson, "Spoiled by the Unspoiled in Tobago.", Los Angeles Times, January 2, 2000
Signs in Chinese characters emblazon tailor shops, banks, restaurants and boutiques painted with bright yellows, cobalt blues and deep reds.
-- Harriet King, "Near Vancouver, the Chinese Stake Is Growing.", New York Times, September 7, 1996
In an age when "Anonymous" became a gimmicky novelistic pseudonym and deep-pocket donors emblazon their names on buildings, parks or plaques, he insisted on staying unknown because he wanted the spotlight to fall on those who labor unheralded.
-- David Gonzalez, "Rewarding a Rock's Role in the Bronx.", New York Times, December 2, 1998
Emblazon is from em- + Old French blason, a shield (with coat of arms); it is probably ultimately of Germanic origin and akin to blaze.
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for emblazon
