Sep 012016
 

Yugen: Gives a name to a mood in which one feels that the universe as a whole possesses a mysterious, elusive, but real, beauty. Moonlight, snow on distant mountains, birds flying very high in the evening sky, and watching the sun rise over the ocean all feed this sensibility.

-from The School of Life

Nov 232010
 

To oppose, contradict, or call into question. [Middle English oppugnen, from Latin oppugnre, to attack : ob-, against; see ob- + pugnre, to fight with the fist.] To oppose, contradict, or call into question. [Middle English oppugnen, from Latin oppugnre, to attack : ob-, against; see ob- + pugnre, to fight with the fist.]

Nov 212010
 

A strong creative impulse, especially as a result of divine inspiration. Example: a mythic afflatus

[from Latin afflatus, from past participle of afflere, to breathe on : ad-, ad- + flare, to blow.]

Nov 212010
 

An imitation of gold. A finish of a copper and zinc or tin alloys that resemble gold in appearance and are used to ornament furniture, moldings, architectural details, and jewelry.