a sanguine disposition
In thinking of a word to explain the hopefulness I felt this morning, I thesaurus'd my way to sanguine . I like the word "sanguine," not for the same reasons I have always liked the word frostbite--which sounds exhiliarating--but rather for the history of the word, it's old meanings. If I weren't a Farmer/librarian I think I would spend my days researching the family trees of words, their growth away from an original meaning, the movements towards independence and changed usability. Dictionary.com describes sanguine in its adjective stage as: 1. cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident: a sanguine disposition; sanguine expectations. 2. reddish; ruddy: a sanguine complexion. 3. (in old physiology) having blood as the predominating humor and consequently being ruddy-faced, cheerful, etc. 4. bloody; sanguinary. 5. blood-red; red. 6. Heraldry . a reddish-purple tincture. Origin: 1275–1325; Middle English sanguyne a blood-red cloth < Old...