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NNadir

(36,592 posts) Wed Aug 27, 2025, 10:52 AM Aug 27

Cool word: Marmoreal.

Over in the history forum, I was writing about my planned birthday wanderings in a bookstore, and decided to check out a review of one of the books I'm thinking about.

I called up a review of the book, this one, and came across the word, marmoreal.

marmoreal
adjective
mar·mo·re·al mär-ˈmȯr-ē-əl
variants or less commonly marmorean
mär-ˈmȯr-ē-ən
: of, relating to, or suggestive of marble or a marble statue especially in coldness or aloofness

The context is this:

The Plato found in these pages, wonderfully evoked by Romm’s tense, insightful prose and massively substantiated by an extensive bibliography, is the very opposite of marmoreal in every way. In a world where a four billion dollar podcast-bro ecosystem worships the marmoreal on a daily, hourly basis, that alone makes the book extremely welcome.

Even as an old man, I love coming across a new word, a good one too, in this context.

4 replies

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Cool word: Marmoreal. (Original Post) NNadir Aug 27 OP

I, too, love earning new words, and always will. 3catwoman3 Aug 27 #1

Spoken like a true poet. NNadir Aug 27 #2

I've been to the Lincoln marmoreal. Harker Aug 27 #3

That's great. I've always been curious about the word 'marmorated' ... rog Aug 27 #4

3catwoman3

(27,706 posts)

1. I, too, love earning new words, and always will.

Reply to NNadir (Original post)

Wed Aug 27, 2025, 10:58 AM

Aug 27

And if we ever need a word to rhyme with arboreal, now we know there is one -

NNadir

(36,592 posts)

2. Spoken like a true poet.

Reply to 3catwoman3 (Reply #1)

Wed Aug 27, 2025, 11:00 AM

Aug 27

Harker

(16,877 posts)

3. I've been to the Lincoln marmoreal.

Reply to NNadir (Original post)

Wed Aug 27, 2025, 11:00 AM

Aug 27

rog

(875 posts)

4. That's great. I've always been curious about the word 'marmorated' ...

Reply to NNadir (Original post)

Wed Aug 27, 2025, 11:37 AM

Aug 27

... as in 'brown marmorated stink bug', one of the banes of my garden, if they show up. I never bothered to look it up, but now I know it means 'overlaid with marble'. Oxford English Dictionary says it's obsolete, and their only evidence of its use is in 1731 (?). I don't know if that's accurate, but now it's obvious why it was used to name this bug.

Thanks for this post!

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (overlaid with marble)

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