It's Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 4th.

Today's word is Diaphanus, spelled D-I-A-A-P-H-A-N-O-U-S.

Diaphanis is an adjective.

It's a formal word used to describe fabric of a texture so fine that one can see through it.

Diaphanus is also sometimes used figuratively to describe something characterized by extreme delicacy of form.

Here's the word used.

In a sentence from Harpers, with a bright pattern set on flaming crimson

and a diaphanous petticoat underneath, the dress fits her perfectly. What do the words

diaphanous, epiphany, fancy, phenomenon, sycophant, emphasis, and phase all have in common? The Greek word phaenine shows more clearly in

some of these words than in others, but it underlies all of them. The groundwork for diaphanus was laid

when phaenine, meaning to bring to light, caused to appear, was combined with the prefix Daya, meaning through.

From that pairing came the Greek Diophinase, meaning transparent, parent of the medieval Latin word,

Diofinius, which is the direct ancestor of the English word.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sarkalowski.

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