XENIAL

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 28 November 2011

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XENIAL  (adj.)

Definition(s):

1. (adj.) hospitable; friendly; pertaining to hospitality or to relations among hosts and guests
2. (adj.) pertaining to the effect of pollen on certain plant structures

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: (none)
• Anagrams: ALEXIN (n.)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: XENIA, XENIAS

Epilogue:
The ancient Greeks placed a high value on the host-guest relationship, which developed into a set of concepts and rituals known as philoxenia (literally, “love of strangers”) — a spirit of hospitality for which Greece is still known.  Reflecting this reality, the ancient Greek word xenos actually had a wide variety of meanings, ranging from “stranger, foreigner” to “guest” to “friend” to “host.”  For this reason, a lot of English words starting with xeno- pertain to things that are “foreign” or “unfamiliar” — such as XENOPHOBIA (“fear of strangers or foreigners”) and XENOPUS (a type of frog with “strange” feet) — but a few (such as XENIAL) relate to the more friendly, hospitable side of the relationship.

Theme:
This week we’ll take a xenial stroll through a few words beginning with the letter X.

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