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Mar 31, 2017
This week’s theme
When etymology meets entomology

This week’s words
earwig
gadfly
puce
paparazzo
ecdysis

ecdysis
An orchid mantis after ecdysis

This week’s comments
AWADmail 770

Next week’s theme
Words with irregular plurals
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

ecdysis

PRONUNCIATION:
(EK-duh-sis)

MEANING:
noun: The shedding of an outer layer: molting.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek ekdysis, from ekdyein (to take off), from ek- (out, off) + dyein (to put on). A related word is ecdysiast. Earliest documented use: 1867.

USAGE:
“George Osborne became a junior Opposition Whip in 2003, a Shadow Treasury spokesman the following year, and in 2005 Shadow Chancellor -- multiple ecdysis possible only in times of political defeat.”
Quentin Letts; The Next Prime Minister?; Daily Mail (London, UK); Jul 9, 2015.

See more usage examples of ecdysis in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things. -Rene Descartes, philosopher and mathematician (31 Mar 1596-1650)

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