• home
  • vocab
  • tutoring
  • blog
  • help

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > APRICATE & APRICITY

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.




pronounce APRICATE:

APP rih kate

Hear it.
pronounce APRICITY:

app RISS ih tee

Hear it.
connect these words to others:

When you apricate, you bask in the sun; and when you enjoy apricity, you enjoy the warmth of the sun in wintertime.

When I first saw the word apricity recently in a Sketchplanation, my first thought was, "Neat! Surely to apricate is to turn into an apricot, etymologically! To get all sun-kissed and golden orangey!"

Sadly, I was wrong. Apricot traces back to the Latin praecoquum, meaning "ripening early."

But apricate and apricity trace back to the Latin apricus, meaning "exposed to the sun."

This apricus has a precise opposite, opacus, meaning "shaded from the sun." And opacus gave us our English word opa___, which originally meant "lying in shadow," but now means "unclear and hard to understand." Can you recall it? 

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definitions:

To apricate is to bask in the sun.

And apricity is the warmth of the sun during winter.

Both words are very rare! They trace back to the Latin apricus, meaning "exposed (to sunlight)."

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

"Apricate" is a verb, usually the intransitive kind: "She's out on the patio, apricating." Sometimes it's the transitive kind: "She's apricating herself on the patio;" "Let's apricate these peppers a little longer."

"Apricity" is a noun, the uncountable kind: "I'm out here for the apricity."

Other forms: 

Apricated; apricating; aprication.

how to use them:

These words are extremely rare.

But they're also extremely delightful! So if you're pretty sure your readers will understand them in context, then go ahead and write about people apricating; or people apricating themselves; or people soaking in, delighting in, or appreciating apricity.

examples:

"A brief burst of apricity warms the spirits and your skin."
   — Jono Hey, Sketchplanations, 5 March 2023

"In the centre of this garden was placed an arm-chair, upon which arm-chair was sitting composedly—but I rubbed my eyes, doubting the very evidence of my own eyesight—a or the huge man in his shirt-sleeves; yes, positively not sunning but mooning himself—apricating himself in the occasional moonbeams."
   — Thomas De Quincey, Literary & Lake Reminiscences, 1834

has this page helped you understand "apricate" & "apricity"?

   

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about these words, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.


study them:

Explain the meaning of "apricate" and "apricity" without saying "sunbathe" or "the winter sun."

try one out:

Talk about which sensation you appreciate more, and why: apricity (the feel of warm sunlight on a cold winter day), or petrichor (the scent of rain mixing with earth, rock, or concrete).

Or, if there's some other wonderful natural sight, smell, sound, taste, or feeling, talk about that one, and why it's superior to apricity.




before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for April: Interpret the Titles!

I'll give you the title of some book, movie, or other creation, along with a summary, and I'll challenge you to interpret the title in three different ways.

For examples, and some tips if you get stuck, head here!

Try this one today: The Crying of Lot 49 is a 1966 novel by Thomas Pynchon. Buckle up, y'all! Here's a summary from the publisher: "Oedipa Maas, a young Californian woman... begins to embrace a conspiracy theory as she possibly unearths a centuries-old feud between two mail distribution companies." I'll throw in that Oedipa's husband Mucho has to leave his job as a used car salesman after suffering constant emotional breakdowns from all the deception and meaninglessness there. And a reviewer for the New York Times adds that the story is "populated by self-mystified people running from the responsibilities of love and compelled by phantoms, puzzles, the power of Things... In the final scene, accompanied by the famed philatelist, Genghis Cohen, [Oedipa] enters the 'crying' of Lot 49, a collection of stamps." One more note: it's suggested that these stamps convey a coded message for Oedipa to discover.

1. It's titled The Crying of Lot 49 because... ?

2. It's titled The Crying of Lot 49 because... ?

3. It's titled The Crying of Lot 49 because... ?

To see some possible answers, scroll all the way down!

review these words:

1. Opposites of APRICATE include

A. EXPLODE and BLOW UP.
B. MOONBATHE and HOLE UP.
C. WEIGHTLIFT and BEEF UP.

2. "Aprication" would be a fitting name for a line of _____.

A. swimwear
B. blue jeans
C. flavored popcorn




Answers to the review questions:
1. B
2. A


Possible answers to the game questions:

1. It's titled The Crying of Lot 49 because the main character, Oedipa, deals with the stamp collection, which is called a crying.

2. It's titled The Crying of Lot 49 because it's about a stamp collection crying out a secret message for Oedipa.

3. It's titled The Crying of Lot 49 because the characters seem to shout out their sadness; for example, the used car lot and its existential angst makes Mucho cry.


a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
      36 ways to study words.
      Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
      How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
      How to improve any sentence.
      How to motivate our kids to write.
      How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
      How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

Subscribe to "Make Your Point" for a daily vocabulary boost.



© Copyright 2023 | All rights reserved.