This week’s theme
Exempli gratia

This week’s words
fruiterer
innumerate
pule
agon
exfoliate

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(eks-FO-lee-ayt)

MEANING:

verb tr., intr.: To remove or shed dead cells, leaves, bark, etc.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin exfoliare (to strip off leaves), from ex- (out) + folium (leaf). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhel- (to thrive), which also gave us bloom, flower, flour, foil, folio, and feuilleton. Earliest documented use: 1639.

USAGE:

“With all of these war-era reminders, not to mention the 7 million tons of bombs, the napalm, the Agent Orange the United States military dropped, we were impressed by how welcoming the Vietnamese were. ... We noticed a sign for a fish spa, signed up, and soon were sitting on a bench, calf-deep in a water tank filled with hundreds of tiny fish that swarmed our feet. The idea is that they nibble off the dead skin and leave your feet exfoliated and soft.”
Bella English; Our Family Value; Boston Globe (Massachusetts); Apr 17, 2011.

“[The wellness influencers] sell diets and lifestyles that make our bodies into secular religions. If I do any more mindful, radical self-care, I am going to exfoliate myself into not existing.”
Tressie McMillan Cottom; An Empty Internet Gave Us Tradwives and Trump; The New York Times; Nov 24, 2024.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: