mephitic, adj. n. meanings, etymology and more | Oxford English . . . What is the etymology of the word mephitic? Either (i) a borrowing from French Or (ii) a borrowing from Latin Or perhaps (iii) formed within English, by derivation Etymons: French méphitique; Latin mephiticus; mephitis n , ‑ic suffix
mephitic - Wiktionary, the free dictionary From this crawling flapping mass of obscene reptilian life came the shocking clamor which filled the air and the mephitic, horrible, musty odor which turned us sick More than that, perhaps the worst thing, was a sort of mephitic fog, moistureless and invisible, that came and went like an exhalation of the arid earth itself
Word of the Day: Mephitic - Joyce Strong Mephitic Definition: adjective — foul-smelling, noxious, poisonous Often used for gases or vapors, but figuratively it describes something morally toxic, a stench that corrupts the air around it Etymology: From the Latin mephitis (“noxious exhalation, pestilential vapor”), adopted into English in the 17th century to describe poisonous
Mephitic - definition of mephitic by The Free Dictionary Define mephitic mephitic synonyms, mephitic pronunciation, mephitic translation, English dictionary definition of mephitic n 1 An offensive smell; a stench 2 A poisonous or foul-smelling gas emitted from the earth me·phit′ic adj me·phit′i·cal·ly adv American Heritage®
Mefitis - Wikipedia Mefitis was a Samnite and Oscan goddess worshipped from the 7th-century BCE to the 2nd-century CE whose cult was primarily concentrated in the southwest of central Italy [1][2] In ancient literature, she is often associated with the foul-smelling gases of the earth [3] It is theorized that Mefitis was originally a goddess of underground sources, such as natural springs—the fact that many
Mephitic - Etymology, Origin Meaning - Etymonline mephitic (adj ) 1620s, "of poisonous smell, foul, noxious," from Late Latin mephiticus, from Latin mephitis, mefitis "noxious vapor, a pestilential exhalation, especially from the earth" (also personified as a goddess believed to have the power to avert it), an Italic word of uncertain origin English use of mephitis is attested from 1706