oblate means designating a person who is an oblate, of or belonging to an order of oblates. It carries an Arena rating of 1649, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, oblate ranks #1,510 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,483 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #2,811 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,985 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
oblate is pronounced /ˈɒbleɪt/.
Why “oblate” is a great word
Having a shape flattened at the poles, as a spheroid generated by revolving an ellipse about its minor axis. From Medieval Latin oblatus ("flattened"), from Latin ob- ("toward") and abstracted from its opposite prolatus ("extended"); first attested in this geometric sense in 1705. Unlike prolate, which describes an elongation at the poles, or spherical, which implies perfect radial symmetry, oblate denotes a deliberate, subtle surrender to pressure. It is the shape of Saturn girdled by its rings, a tired orange, a warm candy pressed flat between thumb and forefinger—a celestial testament to the fact that existence itself distorts perfect form.
Etymology
From French oblat and its source, Ecclesiastical Latin oblātus (“person dedicated to religious life”), nominalization of oblātus, perfect passive participle of offerō (“to offer”); see -ate (noun-forming suffix).
adj
- Designating a person who is an oblate, of or belonging to an order of oblates.e.g.“an Oblate Father”
- Flattened or depressed at the poles.e.g.“The Earth is an oblate spheroid.”
noun
- A person dedicated to a life of religion or monasticism, especially a member of an order without religious vows or a lay member of a religious community.
- A child given up by its parents into the keeping or dedication of a religious order or house.
verb
- To offer as either a gift or an oblation.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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