Boozer
06-27-05, 08:39PM
imbricate • \IM-bruh-kayt\ • verb
: overlap; especially : to overlap like roof tiles
Example sentence:
"Fine-spun and see-through, the cotton . . . acts as canvas and writing paper, pierced and covered by the imbricated stitches that decorate it." (Frances Richard, Artforum International, January 1, 2005)
Did you know?
The ancient Romans knew how to keep the interior of their villas dry when it rained. They tiled their roofs with overlapping curved tiles so the "imber" (Latin for "rain") couldn't seep in. The tiles were, in effect, "rain tiles," so the Romans called them "imbrices" (singular "imbrex"). The verb for installing the tiles was "imbricare." The "imbr-" root has never really been put to use in English rain-related words (though scientists have made use of the closely-related Greek "ombros"; for example, "ombriphilous" describes a plant that loves heavy rainfall). English speakers used the past participle of "imbricare"—"imbricatus"—to create "imbricate," which was first used as adjective meaning "overlapping (like roof tiles)" and later became a verb meaning "to overlap."
Preparing to listen to yet another bullshit story from my friend, I imbricated my fingers, leaned back in the chair, and sighed.
: overlap; especially : to overlap like roof tiles
Example sentence:
"Fine-spun and see-through, the cotton . . . acts as canvas and writing paper, pierced and covered by the imbricated stitches that decorate it." (Frances Richard, Artforum International, January 1, 2005)
Did you know?
The ancient Romans knew how to keep the interior of their villas dry when it rained. They tiled their roofs with overlapping curved tiles so the "imber" (Latin for "rain") couldn't seep in. The tiles were, in effect, "rain tiles," so the Romans called them "imbrices" (singular "imbrex"). The verb for installing the tiles was "imbricare." The "imbr-" root has never really been put to use in English rain-related words (though scientists have made use of the closely-related Greek "ombros"; for example, "ombriphilous" describes a plant that loves heavy rainfall). English speakers used the past participle of "imbricare"—"imbricatus"—to create "imbricate," which was first used as adjective meaning "overlapping (like roof tiles)" and later became a verb meaning "to overlap."
Preparing to listen to yet another bullshit story from my friend, I imbricated my fingers, leaned back in the chair, and sighed.