This week’s theme
Words with all the vowels

This week’s words
elucidatory
questionary
cylindraceous
autocephality
quodlibetary

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(ah-to-suh-FAL-i-tee)

MEANING:

noun: Self-rule.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek auto- (self) + -cephal (head).

NOTES:

Autocephality is a fancy word for self-governance. It’s especially used in the context of Eastern Orthodox Churches that independently govern their spiritual affairs without a higher ecclesiastical authority. Think of it as running their own spiritual show. No higher-ups pulling the incense strings.
Not to be confused with autocephalopods. Those would be self-governing squids.

USAGE:

“Autocephality in Bulgaria and the rest of the Balkans made the churches a tool for nationalist propaganda and war in the nineteenth century.”
Alex Moldovan ; The Orthodox Church and a Very Balkan Affair; OpenDemocracy (London, UK); Nov 5, 2018.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: