Salvador Dali, Sewing Machine with Umbrella Oil on Canvas Courtesy of the Stratton Foundation
Definition
A partial shadow between regions.
The grayish outer spot of a region.
"It is because the critics are not detched they do not see this detachment, it is because they are not looking at things in a dry light that they cannot see the difference between black and white."# #Chesterton, G.The Everlasting Man. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993.
Cocktail Party Banter
When you are in the midst of things it is often to be at a penumbra of things.
Literary Context
Slowly thepenumbra, the shadow of a shadow, crept on over the bright surface, and as it crept I heard deep gasps of fear rising from the multitude around.
a. The art of judging human character from facial features.
b. Divination based on facial features.
2.
a. Facial features, especially when regarded as revealing character.
b. Aspect and character of an inanimate or abstract entity: the physiognomy of New England.
[Middle English phisonomie, from Old French phisionomie, from Late Latin physiognmia, from Greek phusiognmi, variant of phusiognmoni : phusio-, physio- + gnmn, gnmon-, interpreter; see gn- in Indo-European roots.]
We were then, for reasons which it is not worth while to specify, in the close neighbourhood of Kerguelen Land; and now, when I open an atlas and look at the tiny dots on the map of the Southern Ocean, I see as if engraved upon the paper the enraged physiognomy of that gale.The Mirror of the Sea by Conrad, Joseph
The sense of the word "propinquity" as given here is a specialised one. For a more general definition of the word, see in the Wiktionary.
In social psychology, propinquity (from Latinpropinquitas, nearness) is one of the main factors leading to interpersonal attraction. It refers to the physical or psychological proximity between people. Two people living on the same floor of a building, for example, have a higher propinquity than those living on different floors. Propinquity can mean physical proximity, a kinship between people, or a similarity in nature between things. Propinquity is also one of the factors, set out by Jeremy Bentham, used to measure the amount of pleasure in a method known as felicific calculus.
Propinquity effect
The propinquity effect is the tendency for people to form friendships or romantic relationships with those whom they encounter often. In other words, relationships tend to be formed between those who have a high propinquity. It was first theorized by psychologists Leon Festinger, Stanley Schachter, Kurt Lewin and Kurt Bach in what came to be called as the Westgate studies conducted at MIT (1950). The typical venn diagram used to represent the propinquity effect is shown below where U = universe, A = set A, B = set B, and S = similarity:
The sets are basically any relevant subject matter about a person, or persons, or non-persons, etc; depending on the context of the use of the word. Propinquity can be more than just physical distance. Residents of an apartment building living near a stairway, as an example, tend to have more friends from other floors than others. The propinquity effect is usually explained by the mere exposure effect, which holds that the more exposure a stimulus gets, the more likeable it becomes.
Proteus was a minor sea god in the court of Poseidon, who could readily adopt any form or guise he desired, but who found it impossible to maintain any particular identity or commitments. These types will plunge into a variety of faith experiences, but do not root themselves to one faith. (Postmodern Believers).
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mia, from Greek phusiogn
, variant of phusiogn
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