Octogesimus Secundus: August 10, 2008: Meatus
Theme for this week: N/A
meatus, meatus m.
Definition: movement, course; progress; passage-way
Sententia: Spectantes lunam caela clara malunt ut meatum per noctem videant.
Watching the moon, they prefer clear skies so that they may see [its] progress through the night.
"Meatus" is simply a cool-looking word, partially because it is nothing like the English word which resembles it. It is also a 4th declension noun, a sort which you don't come across too often (thus making it useful for using those endings in Latin scrabble!). In Book 6 of Vergil's Aeneid it is found.
A related word is meo, meare, meaning to go along or travel.
NB: Bold and underline == macron