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Oct 22, 2012
This week's themeWords that aren't what they appear to be This week's words predial hibernian histrionics blousy redoubtable Roll the dice Get a random word from A.Word.A.Day archives ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() A.Word.A.Day
with Anu GargA guinea pig is not a pig, nor is it from Guinea. It's a rodent from South America. Sweetbread is neither sweet nor bread. It's the pancreas or thymus of an animal used for food. The movie director Norman Jewison is neither a Norman nor a Jew. He's a Canadian Christian. Nobody said names for people or things have to make sense. This week we'll feature five terms that do not mean what you might think they mean. predial or praedial
PRONUNCIATION:
MEANING:
adjective: Of or relating to land, farming, etc.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin praedium (estate), from praes (bondsman), from prae- (before) + vas (surety). Earliest documented use: 1461.
USAGE:
"Agrarian outbreaks, in many places, assumed the aspect of a predial war." Johnson Rossiter; The Great Events by Famous Historians; 1905. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Where the light is brightest, the shadows are deepest. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, poet, dramatist, novelist, and philosopher (1749-1832)
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