A.Word.A.Day -- hidalgo

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A.Word.A.Day--hidalgo

This week's theme: words formed by contraction.

hidalgo (hi-DAL-go) noun

A member of the lower nobility in Spain.

[From Spanish, contraction of hijo de algo (son of something). A similar term of nobility in Portugal is fidalgo, from Portuguese filho de algo.]

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

"[The play] ended in a massive attack by U.S. troops, who illustrated egalitarian principles by slaughtering hidalgos, peons, and enslaved Indians alike." Michael Feingold; This Week's Hot New Plays; The Village Voice (New York); Oct 2, 2007.

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“Overall, the universe’s apostrophe store stays in balance. It seems our linguistic world was intelligently designed -- for every gratuitous apostrophe there’s an instance where it’s omitted.”

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