cadel means an ornate capital letter used in calligraphy, consisting of interlaced pen strokes. See :Commons:Cadel letters. It carries an Arena rating of 1530, earned across 33 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, cadel ranks #586 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #1,622 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #1,651 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #3,060 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
cadel is pronounced [ˈkʰeɪ.dl̩].
Why “cadel” is a great word
CADEL — [Noun] An ornate capital letter, characterized by intricate interlacing of pen strokes. From Latin capitellum, diminutive of caput ("head"). Unlike an "initial" (a simple, enlarged letter) or "lombardic" (a specific historic style), a cadel is defined by its structural gymnastics—the deliberate tangling of line into knot. It is a forest of black ink where stems and serpents intertwine; a labyrinth confining a single character; a complex cage of artistry built to house a solitary idea. In its deliberate complexity, one senses a quiet rebellion against the blankness of the page.
Etymology
From Latin capitellum, diminuitive of Latin caput (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *kauput- (English head), itself from Proto-Indo-European *kap-. Doublet of captain. Cognate with French cadeau. Doublet of caddie, cadet, capital, capitellum, and caudillo.
noun
- An ornate capital letter used in calligraphy, consisting of interlaced pen strokes. See :Commons:Cadel letters.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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