Word of the Day: Multifarious
Used in service of a new ecological novel, definitely not a beach read.
adjective
mul·ti·far·i·ousˌ məl-tə-ˈfer-ē-əs
Synonyms of multifarious
: having or occurring in great variety : diverse
participated in multifarious activities in high school
multifariousness noun
Before the late 16th-century appearance of multifarious, there was another word similar in form and meaning being used: multifary, meaning "in many ways," appeared—and disappeared—in the 15th century. Before either of the English words existed, there was the Medieval Latin word multifarius, from Latin multifariam, meaning "in many places" or "on many sides." Multi-, as you may know, is a combining form meaning "many." A relative of multifarious in English is omnifarious ("of all varieties, forms, or kinds"), created with omni- ("all") rather than multi-.
Richard Powers was writing about nuclear radiation and chemical carcinogens when the Young Turks of today were still in their disposable diapers. He’s been piled in prizes, most recently the Pulitzer for “The Overstory,” a complicated narrative of communicating trees. And yet he himself is sort of a grand old oak of American letters: a towering, sturdy figure often overlooked for flashier species.
Powers’s new book, “Playground,” is an enchanting entry point to his work that swings open easily with just a few creaks.
The title is, as the best are, multifarious. Nominally, it refers to the Reddit-slash-Facebookish internet platform founded by Todd Keane, a white billionaire who has been diagnosed, at 57, with Lewy body dementia. He is reflecting on the erosion of his intense school friendship with Rafi Young, a principled Black bibliomaniac turned NGO worker.
| Alexandra Jacobs, First He Spoke for the Trees; Now He Speaks for the Sea