Word of the Day

: October 26, 2007

imbricate

adjective IM-brih-kut

What It Means

: lying lapped over each other in regular order

imbricate in Context

The antique mirror had tiny imbricate gold squares around its edge.

Did You Know?

The ancient Romans knew how to keep the interior of their villas dry when it rained. They covered their roofs with overlapping curved tiles so the "imber" (Latin for "pelting rain" or "rain shower") couldn't seep in. The tiles were, in effect, "rain tiles," so the Romans called them "imbrices" (singular "imbrex"). The verb for installing the tiles was "imbricare," and English speakers used its past participle -- "imbricatus" -- to create "imbricate," which was first used as adjective meaning "overlapping (like roof tiles)" and later became a verb meaning "to overlap."