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A.Word.A.Day--antonomasia

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antonomasia (an-toh-noh-MAY-zhuh) noun

1. The substitution of a title or epithet for a proper name, as in calling a sovereign "Your Majesty."

2. The substitution of a personal name for a common noun to designate a member of a group or class, as in calling a traitor a "Benedict Arnold."

[Latin, from Greek antonomazein, to name instead : anti-, instead of + onomazein, to name (from onoma, name).]

"In Florence, a rich and famous city of Italy, in the province called Tuscany, there dwelt two rich and principal gentlemen called Anselmo and Lothario, which two were so great friends, as they were named for excellency, and by antonomasia, by all those that knew them, the Two Friends." Cervantes, Miguel de, Don Quixote Of The Mancha: Chapter VI., (Translation: Shelton, Thomas)

This week's theme: words about words.

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Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. -Berthold Auerbach, German Writer (1812-1882)


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