Is there any English word (British English) like 'APPROPRIACY'? I have known the word 'APPROPRIATENESS' since long but my friend says that the first named word also exists in British English although I could not find it in any of the Dictionaries.

Can someone clarify authoritatively?

Thanks and regards,

VKN

vkayen@eth.net

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/searchdetail.aspx?q=APPROPRIACY&pg=1&grp=dict

Yes, it is a real word. It's in common usage on many UK sites, but doesn't seem as popular in the US.

seems like a legit construct, just hasn't caught on.

and welcome, v!

Many thanks for your clarification. I guess it's a newly coined word as I don't find it in the Oxford Dictionary 1990 edition that I have. With its wide spread acceptance in the U.K., I'm sure it must have found its way to Oxford Dictionary in the recent past. Should it be so, I would use it authoritatively too!!

VKN
Chennai
India

interestingly, the widest use of 'appropriacy' seems to be in the field of Linguistics; and note the wording of the Encarta def'n cited above: word's suitability: the precise suitability of a word to its context.

-joe (word!) friday