corposant means an electrical discharge accompanied by a corona of ionization in the surrounding atmosphere. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
corposant is pronounced /ˈkɔːpəzant/.
Why “corposant” is a great word
CORPOSANT — [Noun] A luminous electrical discharge, often seen as a ball or brush of light on a ship's mast or rigging during a storm, also known as St. Elmo's fire. From Portuguese corpo-santo or Spanish corpo santo, literally meaning 'holy body', from Latin corpus ("body") and sanctum ("holy"); first known use circa 1595. Unlike "lightning" (a violent, instantaneous strike) or "will-o'-the-wisp" (a fugitive, marsh-born flicker), a corposant is a sustained, coronal possession of the spars. It is the spectral halo crackling on the mainmast, the sizzle of blue-white light in the soaked rigging, and the eerie, steadfast companion that transforms a ship into a cathedral of charged air—a silent testament to the strange civility of atmospheric violence.
noun
- An electrical discharge accompanied by a corona of ionization in the surrounding atmosphere“I said the corpusants have mercy on us all; and I hope they will, still. But do they only have mercy on long faces?--have they no bowels for a laugh? […] I take that mast-head flame we saw for a sign of good luck; for those masts are rooted in a hold that is going to be chock a' block with sperm-oil, d'ye see; and so, all that sperm will work up into the masts, like sap in a tree. Yes, our three m”