A Word A Day — brachiate

with Anu Garg

brachiate

(verb: BRAY-kee-ayt, BRAK-ee-ayt, adjective: BRAY-kee-it, BRAK-ee-it)

verb intr.: To move by swinging from one hold to another by using arms.
adjective: Having arms.

From Latin brachiatus (having arms), from brachium (arm), from Greek brakhion (upper arm). Ultimately from the Indo-European root mregh-u- (short) that is also the source of brief, abbreviate, abridge, brassiere, and brumal.

“Thick-furred, with a red face, the monkey moves by sprawling out and brachiating from branch to branch through the high forest canopy.”
Roger Rosenblatt; Earth’s Green Gown; Time (New York); Jun 17, 2004.

“The new superfriends head out on their first missions: the isotope feint and a related museum heist, which allows Sydney to dress in cat-burglar clothes and brachiate around an unguarded exhibition.”
Virginia Heffernan; Yet More of One Face in Season 4 of ‘Alias’; The New York Times; Jan 5, 2005.

Prison: Young Crime’s finishing school. -Clara Lucas Balfour, social activist (1808-1878)