Pellucid

[Dr. Goodword]

• pellucid •

Pronunciation: pe-lu-sid • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: 1. Clear, transparent. 2. Extremely lucid in style or tone, clear, easily comprehensible.

Notes: There really isn't much difference between today's word and lucid. The extra syllable simply attracts attention, so I use it only when I want to emphasize the clarity of things. It comes with the same variants as lucid: an adverb, pellucidly, and a noun, pellucidity or the clunkier pellucidness.

In Play: Don't you just love picnics beside a pellucid, susurrous little stream? Pellucidity is all around us: "Rhoda Book writes best when it's raining and she can see pellucid little droplets crawling down the window panes of her study." But clarity comes in other forms: "Let me be pellucid about this: no boyfriends on motorcycles!"

Word History: Obviously pellucid and lucid are built on the same root. Lucid comes from Latin lucidus "clear, bright, shining" from lucere "to shine". Pellucid is based on Latin pellucidus "transparent" from pellucere "to shine through", made up of per "through" + lucere. The final R in per is assimilated by (becomes like) the initial L of lucere. Latin came by the root of lucere via the usual route, this time Proto-Indo-European leuk- "light, brightness", which also became lux [luk-s] "light" and English light. The alternate name of Satan, Lucifer, shares the same source as these? "How?" you might well ask. Lucifer was an earlier name of Venus, the morning star. So it was composed of luc- "light" + i + fer- "bearer, carrier" from Latin ferre "to bear, carry". (Today's Good Word is another contribution by the pellucid mind of Chris Stewart, our South African friend of long standing.)

[Perry Lassiter]

Probably my personal usage, but I tend to use lucid in reference to ideas and mental activity. If the word came to mind beside your stream, i would use clear, probably, but pelucid if I should think of it.

[George Kovac]

I have never been a fan of "pellucid" though my reasons are not compelling.

First, I don't find the sound pleasing to the ear. Like "pulchritude," a word which means beauty but which does not sound beautiful. But what sounds best is a very personal matter, and I guess that is why aging baby boomers still argue Beatles vs Rolling Stones a half century after the fact. (BTW, Happy 73rd Birthday Sir Paul.)

Second, pellucid does not have a meaning clearly distinct enough--to my taste--from lucid, and that gives its use a bit of an affected and distracting tone to my ear. Like "admixture" and "mixture." I have seen pellucid used nicely in literature (I'm sorry I did not save those examples), but on the whole it is a word I am reluctant to adopt myself. But, as Dr. Goodword notes, "pellucid" is best enlisted when the writer chooses to arrest the reader for emphasis.

[LukeJavan8]

I can't remember his name, but the word reminds me of
the stray king in Camelot that Arthur and Guinevere
find while picnicing .