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Jun 12, 2014
This week's theme
Words that aren't what they appear to be

This week's words
dispositive
holograph
plutarchy
reproof
votary

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

reproof

PRONUNCIATION:
(ri-PROOF)

MEANING:
noun: Disapproval; blame.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Old French reprover (to criticize), from Latin reprobare (to disapprove), from re- (opposite) + probare (to approve), from probus (good). Earliest documented use: 1375.

USAGE:
"The nuns have continued to insist on their right to debate and challenge church teaching, which has resulted in the Vatican's reproof."
Laurie Goodstein; Nuns Weigh Response to Scathing Vatican Rebuke; The New York Times; Jul 29, 2012.

See more usage examples of reproof in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I believe that in the course of the next century the notion that it's a woman's duty to have children will change and make way for the respect and admiration of all women, who bear their burdens without complaint or a lot of pompous words! -Anne Frank, diarist (1929-1945)

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