Word of the Day

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

canorous

\kuh-NOR-us; KAN-or-uhs\ , adjective;

Richly melodious; pleasant sounding; musical.

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Quotes:

I felt a deep contentment listening to the meadowlark's complex melody as he sat on his bragging post calling for a mate, and the soft canorous whistle of the bobwhite as he whistled his name with intermittent lulls.

-- Donna R. La Plante, "Remember When: The prairie after a spring rain", Kansas City Star, March 16, 2003

But birds that are canorous and whose notes we most commend, are of little throats, and short necks, as Nightingales, Finches, Linnets, Canary birds and Larks.

-- Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica

Origin:

Canorous comes from the Latin canor, "melody," from canere, "to sing." It is related to chant, from French chanter, "to sing," ultimately from Latin canere.