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A.Word.A.Day--endue

endue (en-DOO, -DYOO) verb tr., also indue

1. To invest, bestow, or endow with a gift, quality, trait, or power.

2. To put on (an item of clothing).

[From Middle English enduen (to draw on), from Old French enduire (to lead in), from Latin inducere (to put on).]

What is one thing you'd do if you induce, douche, produce, subdue, seduce, reduce, or endue? You'll be leading on to something. The common link here is the Latin root ducere (to lead). And what do a noble duke and a lowly duct have in common. The same -- they lead. -Anu

"It's impossible to believe the style wasn't meant to serve as a serene respite from a messy world, to endue the owner with the same calmness and clearness of mind that its surfaces reflect." Rachel Brown, House of Denmark Makes a Home in Okemos, Greater Lansing Business Monthly (Michigan), Sep 01, 1995.

"If thou art beautiful, and youth And thought endue thee with all truth -- Be strong; -- be worthy of the grace." The White Doe of Rylstone: Canto 2, William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

This week's theme: words that appear misspelling of everyday words.

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