Geoffrey Chaucer, whose Canterbury Tales shares many sources with various Decameron tales, including IX, 6. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
disport
: disport \dih-SPORT\ verb
1 : divert, amuse 2 : frolic 3 : display
Examples:
“Dracula builds a five-stake resort for his monster friends to disport themselves less bothered on vacation, but his daughter falls in love with a somewhat dopey human.” — From a review of the movie Hotel Transylvania by Jeff Simon, Buffalo News (New York), September 28, 2012
“A hulking, forbidding terrace, unlike anything else in town, rears up out of nowhere. In its heyday, it was the home of the wealthy with cast iron balconies for them to disport themselves on.” — From an article by Chris Lloyd, The Northern Echo (England), October 24, 2012
Did you know?
Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the first writers to amuse the reading public with the verb “disport.” Chaucer and his contemporaries carried the word into English from Anglo-French, adapting it from “desporter,” meaning “to carry away, comfort, or entertain.” The word can ultimately be traced back to the Latin verb “portare,” meaning “to carry.” “Deport,” “portable,” and “transport” are among the members of the “portare” family.
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