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Sep 25, 2012 This week's theme Verbs This week's words crepitate ramify ameliorate adhibit decorticate Discuss Feedback RSS/XML A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg ramify PRONUNCIATION: (RAM-i-fy) MEANING: verb tr., intr.: To divide into branches. ETYMOLOGY: From Latin ramus (branch). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wrad- (root) which also sprouted words such as root, wort, licorice, radical, radish, rutabaga, eradicate, and deracinate. Earliest documented use: 1425. USAGE: "Andrew offered to read me a handful of passages from the manuscript ... which had ramified so uncontrollably that it was turning into several distinct projects." Nicolas Rothwell; The Red Highway; Black Inc.; 2009. Explore "ramify" in the Visual Thesaurus. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them. -James Baldwin, writer (1924-1987)

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