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Word of the day/2024/April 11
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Word of the day
for
April 11
Promethean
adj
Of or pertaining to
Prometheus
, a
demigod
in
Greek
mythology
who
created
mortals
from
clay
and
stole
fire
from
Zeus
to
give
to them, for which Zeus
punished
him by
chaining
him to a
rock
and having an
eagle
feed
on his
liver
which
grew
back each
night
; he was later
rescued
by
Heracles
.
Boldly
creative
,
inventive
, or
original
;
skilful
,
talented
; also,
recklessly
daring
;
audacious
.
Of a
Romantic
literary
hero
:
defying
traditional
moral
categories
;
rebelling
against a
larger
order
;
persecuted
but
dauntless
.
(
rare
)
Of or pertaining to the
promethea silkmoth
(
Callosamia promethea
).
Promethean
n
One with the
qualities
of
Prometheus
, or who
acts
in a
Promethean
manner
(
audaciously
,
creatively
, etc.).
(
also
attributive
,
historical
)
A
kind
of
lucifer
match
consisting
of a
glass
tube
containing
sulfuric acid
coated
on the
outside
with a
flammable
mixture
of
potassium chlorate
and
sugar
and
wrapped
in
paper
rolls
; the match was
lit
by
crushing
the tube with
pliers
,
causing
the
acid
to
react
with and
ignite
the flammable
components
. This
type
of match was
superseded
by the
friction
match which was lit by
rubbing
against a
rough
surface
.
British
director
Ridley Scott
’s
film
Prometheus
premiered on this day in
Paris
in 2012.
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