The Wordnik Word of the Day for May 7, 2012 is

adularescence
http://www.wordnik.com/words/adulares...

(noun) The chatoyancy of the adularia variety of feldspar; the moon-like sheen of the moonstone, best visible when the stone is cut with a convex dome.

'Adularescence' comes from 'adularia,' a kind of moonstone or feldspar, and the Latin '-escence,' process or state of being. 'Adularia' is named for Adula, a mountain group of southeast Switzerland.<br /Read More...