

Aug 2, 2012 This week's theme

Words that have the plural spelled the same but pronounced differently



This week's words

corps

faux pas

rendezvous

pince-nez

precis



Anton Chekhov in pince-nez Detail from a portrait by Osip Braz, 1898 Discuss

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RSS/XML Words that have the plural spelled the same but pronounced differently A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg



pince-nez PRONUNCIATION: plural pince-nez (-nayz) (PANS-nay, PINS-)

MEANING: noun: A pair of eyeglasses held in place by a spring that grips the nose.

ETYMOLOGY: From French pince-nez, literally, pinch-nose. Ultimately from the Indo-European root nas- (nose) that is also the source of other words for nose: English nose, Hindi nak, Spanish nariz, French nez, and related words nuzzle, nostril, nasal, and nark . Earliest documented use: 1866.

NOTES: We may now wonder why someone didn't think of the obvious solution of adding side arms sooner, but hindsight is 20/20. Pince-nez were an improvement over what they used before: lorgnettes

USAGE: "Edward Weston had pince-nez on a cord around his neck and would peer at her through the lenses of the glasses."

Matt Schudel; Charis Wilson, Model and Muse; The Washington Post; Nov 25, 2009.

See more usage examples of pince-nez in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.



A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of. -Blaise Pascal, philosopher and mathematician (1623-1662)





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