Yes! I finally stumped Google! Try searching for “iectare”! Go on! I bet you will get thousands of hits explaining the word “hectare”. If only Google’s algorithms had employed a Latin Tutor…
In Late Latin, “iectare” meant “to throw/toss about”. (Hence you get the French word “jeter” – “to throw” and the origin of the modern jet engine, which throws air into the combustible mix of fuel and fire, I’m told, to describe a powerful explosion flying you to your next destination)
“So what?” I hear you cry. When you are next crafting your novel, screenplay, poem or blog post, perhaps you will consider which word(s) – if any – you will “toss about/throw”(=iectare) “next to” (= ad) any noun(s) you call in for descriptive support. In other words, which – if any – adjectives you use “to lend artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative” (The Mikado).
My Creative Writing Tutor once made me strip out all my carefully chosen adjectives. It was a very painful, but highly salutary experience, from which I learnt the importance of the adage “less is more”. Nevertheless, I find this cliché rather ugly and ultimately unsatisfying, because both “less” and “more” are comparative adjectives bereft of any friendly noun. I would argue that any good noun deserves its own adjective, to be “thrown right next to” it, if only to make the sentence more interesting. Perhaps the clichéd adage above ought correctly to be written: “fewer adjectives make for a more rewarding experience”? As long as there are some adjectives in there, somewhere … Stand up for the lowly adjective! Add some spice to life!