Make Your Point > Archived Issues > RIVULET
Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.
connect this word to others:
In Latin, ripa is "riverbank" and rivus is "stream or brook." These roots gave us words like...
river,
rivulet ("little river"),
arrive (literally "to the shore"),
__rive ("originating from" or literally "from the stream"),
and, oddly, rival, which literally meant "living on the other side of the stream," then "neighbor" before it meant "competitor."
Today we're checking out the word rivulet, which sounds beautiful and poetic.
Maybe too beautiful and poetic.
In a post titled "To Anyone Who’s Ever Written a Poem or Even Is Just Thinking about Trying It Soon: A list of DOs and DON'Ts," Hannah Gamble at PoetryFoundation.org seems to shake her head and sigh in frustration as she reminds us that everybody else has already overused "unusual-ish and admittedly sonically pleasing words like cochlea, rivulet, and sluice."
Hmm. Alright. Come to think of it, I am pretty tired of reading about "rivulets of blood" and "rivulets of sweat." So maybe, even as we enjoy the sonically pleasing rivulet, we'll avoid those h_ckn_y_d phrases about blood and sweat, the ones that have been trotted out so very many times before.
Still: the word rivulet is ear candy. It's euph_n___s: beautiful to the ear. And it's m_ll_fl___s: sweet, charming, and smoothly flowing, like honey.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"RIVULET"
Like it sounds, a rivulet is a little river, or anything that reminds you of a little river because it seems to flow, trickle, or wind through something.
Pronunciation:
RIV yuh lut
Part of speech:
Noun, the countable kind: "a rivulet of raindrops," "these muddy rivulets."
Other forms:
Just the plural: "rivulets."
How to use it:
This word is poetic, graceful, and easily understood. It's an interesting alternative to "stream" and "trickle."
We often use it literally. "Rain dotted the windshield, then formed rivulets." "Water from the sprinkler pooled into rivulets and flowed down the muddy hill." Although rivulets are often made of water, they can be made of anything liquid or semi-liquid--tears, blood, sweat, oil, paint, soda, pudding, gravy, etc. But like I mentioned above, you might want to avoid the overused phrases "rivulets of blood" and "rivulets of sweat."
If you're being figurative, rivulets can be made of solids, gases, blank spaces, etc. "A rivulet of white winds its way across the painting."
You can even talk about rivulets of thought, knowledge, feelings, themes, etc., especially those that flow from, away from, outward from, to, or into larger "rivers" of thought, knowledge, and so on.
examples:
"For one frantic, exhilarating, exhausting September minute, I impersonated an Oregon winemaker. With a newfound friend's arms bracing me, and my wife and daughter madly clearing stems and gathering fruit below, my stomping feet released a purple rivulet of grape juice."
— Alex Pulaski, The Washington Post, 24 August 2018
"The stream of newcomers is now but a tiny rivulet; but, when each proclaims to his friends his success in the land of his adoption, that rivulet will swell to a mighty river."
— Anthony J. Cumming, Our First Half-Century: A Review of Queensland Progress, 1909
has this page helped you understand "rivulet"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "rivulet" without saying "stream" or "little flow."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "Rivulets of (some small thing) run through (some larger thing)."
Example: "Rivulets of salted peanut butter run through the Monkey Tracks [ice cream]." (Nevin Martell, The Washington Post, 27 July 2015)
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
This month, we're playing Name Those Synonyms!
We're enjoying the gracefully written, ultra-authoritative explanations in Funk & Wagnalls Standard Handbook of Synonyms, Antonyms, and Prepositions. In each issue, check out the passage from the book, and see if you can figure out which synonyms are being distinguished.
From the previous issue: What two synonyms (<1> and <2>) does the Handbook distinguish below? (They are distinguished first from each other, then distinguished from the word "invent.")
"Of human actions or character, <1> may be used in either the good or the bad sense, oftener in the good; <2> is nearly always used in a bad sense; he was <2>ed in a fraud; real merit is sure to be <1>ed. In scientific language, <2> is used of delicate indications that appear in course of careful watching; as, a slight fluttering of the pulse could be <2>ed. We <1> what has existed but has not been known to us; we invent combinations or arrangements not before in use; Columbus <1>ed America; Morse invented the electric telegraph."
Answers:
<1> is "discover."
<2> is "detect."
Try this today: What two synonyms (<1> and <2>) does the Handbook distinguish below?
"<1>, literally a going around to solicit votes, has primary reference to the award or approval of others, and is the eager desire of power, fame, or something deemed great and eminent. The prizes of <2> are always virtue, nobility, skill, or other high qualities. The prizes of <1> are commonly advancement, fame, honor, and the like. In our older literature this word [<1>] is chiefly applied to inordinate and selfish desire for supremacy. However, <1> is now largely used of an eager and steadfast person to obtain something commendable in itself, viewed as a worthy prize. There is a noble and wise or an ignoble, selfish, and harmful <1>. <2> is a striving for something thought to be above one, as wisdom, virtue, etc."
Bonus challenge: Recall the fine differences between "talk" and "conversation." You can view the answer in this issue.
review this word:
1. A near opposite of RIVULET is
A. SHORTAGE.
B. SMATTERING.
C. FLOOD.
2. Her apologies come in rivulets, _____.
A. implied rather than stated
B. one text message right after another
C. nearly indistinguishable from the jokes
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:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
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.
In Latin, ripa is "riverbank" and rivus is "stream or brook." These roots gave us words like...
"RIVULET" Like it sounds, a rivulet is a little river, or anything that reminds you of a little river because it seems to flow, trickle, or wind through something.
"For one frantic, exhilarating, exhausting September minute, I impersonated an Oregon winemaker. With a newfound friend's arms bracing me, and my wife and daughter madly clearing stems and gathering fruit below, my stomping feet released a purple rivulet of grape juice."
Explain the meaning of "rivulet" without saying "stream" or "little flow."
Fill in the blanks: "Rivulets of (some small thing) run through (some larger thing)."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A near opposite of RIVULET is
|