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A.Word.A.Day--reveille Pronunciation: WAV or RealAudio reveille (REV-uh-lee) noun 1. The sounding of a bugle early in the morning to awaken and summon people in a camp or garrison. This bugle call or its equivalent. The first military formation of the day. 2. A signal to get up out of bed. [Alteration of French reveillez, second person imperative pl. of reveiller, to wake, from Old French resveiller : re-, re- + esveiller, to awake, from Vulgar Latin *exvigilare : Latin ex-, ex- + Latin vigilare, to stay awake, from vigil, awake.] "Indeed, neither rain nor snow nor blistered feet could keep these marchers from averaging between 15 and 20 miles a day. Rising at five a.m. --reveille was conga drums or doo-wop songs -- they would breakfast on whatever the $1.71-a-day-per-person rations allowed, plus the generosity of local farmers." Linda Gomez, Putting Their Cause on the Line 400 Walk Across the U.S. to Protest Nuclear Arms, Life, 1 Jan 1987. This week's theme: words that violate the "i before e" rule. X-Bonus Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary. -Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

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