Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Ramada -- from the Spanish for "branch"

from wordsmith.org

ramada (ruh-MAH-duh) noun An open shelter roofed with branches.
[From Spanish, from rama (branch), from Vulgar Latin rama, from Latin ramus (branch). The word "ramify" branches out from the same root "ramus".]

An anagram of today's word is "armada" (a fleet of warships), another term we've taken from Spanish.

"We are issued orange White House press passes and herded under a ramada near the flight line."
-- Rhonda Bodfield; Reporter-in-waiting Just Waits, And Waits; The Arizona Daily Star; Feb 27, 1999.

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