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Jun 22, 2011
This week's theme
Biblical places that became words in English

This week's words
golgotha
laodicean
calvary
babel
aceldama
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

calvary

PRONUNCIATION:
(KAL-vuh-ree)

MEANING:
noun:
1. A place or occasion of severe trial, anguish, or suffering.
2. A sculptured depiction of the crucifixion.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin calvaria (skull), translation of Greek golgotha where Jesus Christ's crucifixion took place according to the New Testament. Earliest documented use: around 1000.

USAGE:
"'Simply put, when someone is in a terminal phase, that means they are clinically condemned, that there is no solution and what they are facing is a calvary before dying,' Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba added."
Spain to Pass Law to Allow Death 'With Dignity'; Agence France-Presse (Paris); Nov 19, 2010.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
One day I was speeding along at the typewriter, and my daughter -- who was a child at the time -- asked me, "Daddy, why are you writing so fast?" And I replied, "Because I want to see how the story turns out!" -Louis L'Amour, novelist (1908-1988)

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