word of the day
saccade \sak-KAHD\ noun: a small rapid jerky movement of the eye especially as it jumps from fixation on one point to another (as in reading)
Example sentence: In reading, the eyes scan the text in a series of saccades and form what can be thought of as still photographs processed by the brain.
"Saccade" is a French word meaning "twitch" or "jerk." It galloped into English in the early 18th century as a term used in horseback riding for a quick check using the reins. (Today, this meaning is too specialized for entry in _Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary_, but it is stabled in _Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged_.) In 1879, French ophthalmologist Emile Javal observed that a reader's eyes make a series of short jumps, which he referred to in French as saccades. It wasn't until 1938, however, when experimental psychologist Robert Woodworth wrote about the pioneering Javal and his saccades, that the ocular use of the word was seen in an English publication.
[from Merriam Webster]
Example sentence: In reading, the eyes scan the text in a series of saccades and form what can be thought of as still photographs processed by the brain.
"Saccade" is a French word meaning "twitch" or "jerk." It galloped into English in the early 18th century as a term used in horseback riding for a quick check using the reins. (Today, this meaning is too specialized for entry in _Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary_, but it is stabled in _Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged_.) In 1879, French ophthalmologist Emile Javal observed that a reader's eyes make a series of short jumps, which he referred to in French as saccades. It wasn't until 1938, however, when experimental psychologist Robert Woodworth wrote about the pioneering Javal and his saccades, that the ocular use of the word was seen in an English publication.
[from Merriam Webster]
posted by hellkittennyc at 10:50 AM
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