pavonine means Of or pertaining to the genus Pavo or its family Pavonidae, including the peafowl. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
PAVONINE — [Adjective] Resembling or pertaining to a peacock, especially in iridescent coloring or showy vanity. From Latin pāvōnīnus, from pāvō, pāvōnis ("peacock") + -īnus ("of or pertaining to"). Unlike "iridescent," which neutrally describes any shifting sheen, or "ostentatious," which implies a gaudy human effort, pavonine is the precise marriage of organic splendor and theatrical intent. It is the humid, oil-on-water sheen of a peacock’s throat, the metallic flash of a beetle’s carapace in sunlight, and the fanned constellation of eyes on a tail feather shimmering with borrowed light—a beauty so deliberate it feels like a quiet, genetic boast.
adj
- Of or pertaining to the genus Pavo or its family Pavonidae, including the peafowl.
- Possessing the coloring or iridescence of a peacock feather.“These rocks are a schist, and abound with the copper pyrites, which occasionally exhibits a pavonine tarnish. The schist is sometimes of a very deep gray colour, and is then the most rich in metal; sometimes also it has the green[…]”
- Showy, like a peacock's tail; exhibiting vanity.“... leaving its present body would find or construct another according to its chief intrinsic qualities and forces, whether those were a leonine magnanimity of courage, a vulpine subtlety of cunning, or a pavonine strut of vanity .”
noun
- Tarnish found on some ores and metals which resembles the tail feathers of a peacock.
- Any bird from the family Pavonidae.