A.Word.A.Day --vulnerary

A.Word.A.Day

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Apr 12, 2021

This week’s theme
Miscellaneous words

This week’s words
vulnerary
soporific
mummery
intransigence
diffidence

“You have to fall in love with hanging around words.” ~John Ciardi
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Previous week’s theme
Eponyms

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

What’s on the menu this week? Mixed veggies, so to speak. More precisely, it’s mixed words, as in miscellaneous words. The word miscellaneous is from Latin miscere (to mix), ultimately from the Indo-European root meik- (to mix), which also gave us mix, medley, melee, and promiscuous.

We promise not couscous, but a medley of words. Enjoy!

vulnerary

PRONUNCIATION:

(VUHL-nuh-rer-ee)

MEANING:

noun: Something used for the healing of wounds.
adjective: Useful in healing of wounds.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin vulnus (wound) + -ary (relating to). Earliest documented use: 1599.

USAGE:

“Melinda relies upon art to work as a vulnerary.”
Speak: The Graphic Novel; Kirkus Reviews (New York); Feb 15, 2018.

“Periwinkle is also a vulnerary herb, for healing wounds and staunching bleeding.”
Jane Powers; The Language of Love; Irish Times (Dublin); Feb 14, 2004.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

If life's lessons could be reduced to single sentences, there would be no need for fiction. -Scott Turow, author and lawyer (b. 12 Apr 1949)

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