What Does Orotund Mean?

wondrous memeWelcome back to Wondrous Words Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Kathy at Bermudaonion.net.  I took last week off for vacation, but I’m ready to learn some new words today!

My entry today comes from the Merriam-Webster Word-a-Day email.

The preacher’s orotund speech captivated the entire audience; even the teenagers paused to listen.

 

Orotund \’or-uh-tund\ adj; from Latin or- meaning mouth and rotundus meaning round; marked by fullness, strength, and clarity of sound; sonorous; OR pompous, bombastic

This adjective can be used two very different ways.  One could use it to complement a speaker’s delivery, or to imply that the speaker is pompous and haughty.  Isn’t bombastic a fun word?  It sounds like what it means!  Did I hear Tobey Maguire (aka Nick Carraway) use that word in the film The Great Gatsby?

Word Nerd Workout

This is a hint for the Word Nerd Workout!
This is a hint for the Word Nerd Workout!

Something new today: think of another word in the “orotund family”, a word that uses either the or– or the rotund root.  Share your word, and what it means (in layman’s terms; you don’t have to include an official definition) in the comments below.

Thanks for getting nerdy with me today!

 Julia 

Julia Tomiak
I believe in the power of words to improve our lives, and I help people find interesting words to read. Member of SCBWI.

2 Comments

  1. The related word is rotunda, right? My school building is pompously built enough to have a “rotunda” which the principal likes to reference in announcements. And we had a former principal who insisted on saying cafetorium instead of cafeteria, because yeah, the cafeteria is all our building has for an auditorium. (Maybe we could have skipped the rotunda and had a separate auditorium space, huh?)

    1. Yes, Dianne- at least the one I “hinted” at. There are several other related words for orotund. Come on word nerds, think of some more!
      And in reference to the rotunda and “cafetorium” at your school… how bombastic! 😉 Yes, I agree, perhaps a separate auditorium would have been a more practice use of funds…
      Thanks for “working out” with me!

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