Most people are all too familiar with the tip-of-the-tongue sensation of trying to express what seems almost inexpressible. Perhaps you’ve felt the frustration of having the perfect word just beyond reach. Whether its some quality, sentiment, observation, or emotion, some descriptions are hard to come by.
To help Beyond Words readers overcome this unfortunate quandary, here are a few adjectives for words that pertain to other nouns:
Abecedarian – pertaining to the alphabet
Amygdaloid – almond-shaped
Apian pertaining to bees
Aquiline – pertaining to eagles
Asinine pertaining to asses; stupid
Avuncular pertaining to uncles
Buccal – pertaining to the mouth
Bovine – pertaining to cows
Caledonian – pertaining to Scotland
Columbine – pertaining to doves
Cutaneous – pertaining to the skin
Cytherean – pertaining to Aphrodite
Equine – pertaining to horses
Interstitial - pertaining to spaces between things
Lupine - pertaining to wolves
Matinal pertaining to the morning
Metopic – pertaining to the forehead
Mucopurulent pertaining to mucus and pus
Myelic pertaining to the spinal cord
Nicotian pertaining to tobacco
Priapean – pertaining to male virility
Rhinal - pertaining to the nose
Vespine – pertaining to a wasp
Vulpine – pertaining to a fox
Source:
The Phrontistery
Since these are adjectives, should they not, with the exception of Caledonian and Cytherean, be written in lower case?
Hi Bob,
Thanks for reading the blog!
Regarding your comment, I’d say no. The rules for capitalization of vertical list items for online publication are not completely established, but I go by the following:
- Introduce the list with a lead-in sentence or paragraph (punctuate the lead-in with a colon)
- Use sentence-style capitalization on list items
- Use regular doublespacing between list items
- Punctuate list items only if they are complete sentences or verb phrases that complete the sentence begun by the lead-in (and use periods in these two cases)
- For lists with more than ten items, use two column divisions