crenate (2009-08-31)

Part of Speech: adjective

Pronunciation: ['kree-neyt]

Definition: Having an edge scored with indentations or scalloped, as the edge of a coin; serrate. Certain leaves and seashells are also crenate.

Usage: From a metaphorical pen with purple ink, one might see a sentence like "Denis stared at Yasmin, his forehead crenate with anger and concern." In a more homely fashion, we could say "The frog's brow was crenate with warts." Today's word is a good one to describe a knobby or serrate(d) appearance.

Suggested Usage: "Crenately" is the adverb; "crenation" is the noun. "Crenation" is used in medicine to describe the shrunken appearance of red blood cells in a hypertonic solution. "Crenature" is another noun, this time for a rounded projection.

Etymology: We denizens of the twenty-first century are hardly the first to make up nonce words. "Crenate" comes from Late Medieval Latin "crenatus" from crena "notch," created from a reading of an uncertain Latin word in a corrupt passage in Pliny the Elder. Today's rather obscure word shares this etymology with a much more common one: "cranny," probably borrowed from the Old French descendent of the Latin noun, "crena."