2012_06_18 Volant adj. nimble.

Word of the Day for Monday, June 18, 2012
volant \VOH-luhnt\, adjective:
1. Moving lightly; nimble.
2. Engaged in or having the power of flight.
noun:
1. Also called volant piece. Armor. A reinforcing piece for the brow of a helmet.
But here in the present case, to carry on the volant metaphor, (for I must either be merry or mad) is a pretty little Miss, just, come out of her hanging-sleeve coat, brought to buy a pretty little fairing; for the world, Jack, is but a great fair thou knowest; and, to give thee serious reflection for serious, all its toys but tinselled hobby horses, gilt gingerbread, squeaking trumpets, painted drums, and so forth.
 -- Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Or, The History of a Young Lady
With Rube winging it that spring, the band blared, and the volant baseball team was unbeatable.
 -- Alan Howard Levy, Rube Waddell
Volant stems from the Latin word volāre which meant "to fly". In English, it acquired the sense of moving nimbly in the early 1600s.
展翅\的VOH-luhnt\，形容詞：1。移動掉以輕心;靈活。2。從事或擁有飛行的力量。名詞：1。也稱為展翅片。鎧甲。一個頭盔的容顏，加強一塊。但在目前情況下，進行的展翅比喻，（我必須是快樂或瘋狂）是一個漂亮的小小姐，只是，她吊袖大衣，拿來買了漂亮的小整流罩;世界，傑克，但一個偉大的公平你知道，給你嚴重的認真反思，其所有的玩具，但tinselled愛好馬，鎏金薑餅，吱吱小號，畫鼓，等等。  - 塞繆爾·理查森，克拉麗莎，或者，一位年輕女士的歷史魯貝藏匿的那年春天，樂隊的迴響，展翅的棒球隊是無與倫比的。  - 阿蘭·霍華德·利維，魯貝沃德爾展翅源於拉丁詞volāre這意味著“飛”。在英語中，它獲得了靈活移動，在17世紀初感。