Happy Wednesday — it’s time for some new words! You know how this works – share a few words from your current book that you had to look up, then head over to Bermuda Onion’s Weblog to learn some new ones.

This week, my words are from all over! The first one is from an article in The Atlantic about convenience foods. Others are from my current read, Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd. It has taken me a couple of weeks to get through this, which isn’t a good sign. Hopefully, I’ll get drawn in soon.

1. Commensality – Fellowship at table; the act or practice of eating at the same table.

“Americans cling to the ideal of family commensality as an elixir for personal and societal ills (e.g., children’s vulnerability to drugs, smoking, and obesity) and as de rigueur for kindling children’s school success.”

2. Parterre – A level space in a yard occupied by an ornamental arrangement of flower beds

“He could walk the graveled, weedy paths of the neglected parterre whenever he felt like fresh air or needed exercise.”

3. Calabashes – gourds

“It was full of artefacts from  Hamo’s trips to west and central Africa – sculptures, pottery, calabashes, animal hides on the door.”