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Dec 24, 2020
This week’s theme
Words made with combining forms

This week’s words
misocainea
polygyny
audiophile
deontology
silvicolous

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

deontology

PRONUNCIATION:
(dee-ahn-TAH-luh-jee)

MEANING:
noun: The theory or study of duty and obligation, with a focus on the right action as determined by a set of rules, irrespective of the consequences of the action.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek deont- (obligation) + -logy (study). Earliest documented use: 1829.

USAGE:
“What is the right thing to do? How do we decide what is right? Philosophers had the question to themselves for centuries. Utilitarianism versus deontology. John Stuart Mill against Kant in the ultimate cage match.”
Liam Durcan; Garcia’s Heart; McClelland & Stewart; 2009.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Habit with him was all the test of truth, / It must be right: I've done it from my youth. -George Crabbe, poet and naturalist (24 Dec 1754-1832)

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