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May 26, 2009 This week's theme Words derived from numbers This week's words decussate hecatomb atone tessera decuman Today's word in Visual Thesaurus Add your two cents' ... worth to this week's theme and words. Or, if you wish, use centimes, paise, pence, yen, lire, pesos, piasters, etc. Log on at our bulletin board Wordsmith Talk Discuss Feedback RSS/XML A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg hecatomb PRONUNCIATION: (HEK-uh-toom, -tom) MEANING: noun: A large-scale slaughter. ETYMOLOGY: Originally a hecatomb was a public sacrifice and feast of 100 oxen or cattle to the gods in ancient Greece and Rome. The word is derived from Latin hekatombe, from Greek hekatombe, from hekaton (hundred) + bous (ox). Another word derived from bous (ox) is boustrophedon. USAGE: "The use of high-tech weapons will result in hecatombs, smart as the US bombs may be." Lost Values; Kathimerini (Athens, Greece); Mar 17, 2003. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: He who sees a need and waits to be asked for help is as unkind as if he had refused it. -Dante Alighieri, poet (1265-1321)

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