Mikhail Epstein's definitions

dislove

dislove verb transitive (prefix dis + love; cf. dislike, disapprove) Ð to have a deep negative feeling, attraction-through-aversion to smbd.

"Dislove" is a deeper feeling than "dislike," it is not just a matter of taste, but of personal relationship. It is addressed to individuals rather than to inanimate entities. Dislove implies a strong negative emotional connection to its object.

I don't hate Andy. I just dislove him. I wish him to be happy with somebody else.

by Mikhail Epstein November 7, 2003

conaster

conaster n from Latin cum, with + Greek astron, star - literally with star, the exact antonym to disaster; the fortunate outcome of an almost imminent disaster; the sensation of a catastrophe narrowly averted and later remembered from the vantage point of safety.

There were several conasters in my life that I cannot recall without thanking God for his undeserved mercy.

You were born under a lucky star. This conaster is an amazing mixture of chance and miracle.

by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003

relicious

reLIcious adj relic + religious Ð religiously devoted to relics, to the preservation of the past.

Nothing in contemporary life carries meaning for him. He is a deeply relicious person, not simply nostalgic.

Some people think that Eastern Orthodox spirituality is more relicious than truly religious.

by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003

chronosome

chronosome n (Greek khronos, time + Greek soma, body; cf. chromosome) Ð a unit of historical heredity, in contrast with a chromosome as a unit of biological heredity; a mental code of a historical period that is transmitted to next generations through styles, traditions and unconscious influences ("cultural air").

The chronosomes of the early 20th c. avant-garde have reached the generation of the 1960s and shaped its political views and artistic styles.

Nabokov's novel "Invitation to a Beheading" bears many Kafka's chronosomes, even if the author claims to have never read Kafka.

by Mikhail Epstein November 13, 2003

happicle

happicle n (happy + diminutive suffix Ðicle, like in "particle," "icicle") Ð a particle of happiness, the smallest unit of happiness; a single happy occurrence or a momentary feeling of happiness.

There is no happiness in this world, but there are happicles. Sometimes we can catch them, fleeting and unpredictable as they are.

Like photons, happicles have zero mass at rest--the inertial mass that we identify with happiness. Happicles just flash and go out in passing. They may be as transitory as a fragrance in the air, or a yellow falling leaf, or a glance of a passerby on the street.

Happicles make life worth of living, even in the absence of stable happiness.

by Mikhail Epstein November 8, 2003

ifnik (if + suffix nik)

someone whose life, habits and thinking are constructed conditionally.

Don't ask him what he's going to do. A typical ifnik, he will give you a dozen of "ifs."

by Mikhail Epstein October 2, 2003

ignorement

ignorement n ignore + suffix ment; cf. treatment, excitement - a noun that signifies ignoring something or somebody, corresponding to the verb ignore, but different from ignorance (which is derived from ignore, but has a different meaning, "lack of knowledge").

I hoped to receive forgiveness but instead was met with suspicion and ignorement.

Your son's continuous ignorement of his civil duties needs to be noticed and reprimanded.

The government shows the same ignorement towards human lives as towards human rights.

by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003