This week’s theme
Loanwords and loan translations

This week’s words
machtpolitik
dogwatch
bridgehead
earworm
immiseration

This week’s comments
AWADmail 1154

Next week’s theme
Coined words

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(i-miz-uh-RAY-shuhn)

MEANING:

noun:
1. The act of making miserable or the state of being made miserable.
2. Impoverishment.

ETYMOLOGY:

Loan translation of German Verelendung (impoverishment) using Latin in- (into) + miserable, from Latin miserari (to pity), from miser (pitiable, wretched). Earliest documented use: 1942. Also spelled as immiserization.

USAGE:

“Well, 14 years of this government have created a situation impressively close to the aftermath of war: the immiseration of millions.”
Zadie Smith; ‘Here Comes the Sun’; The Guardian (London, UK); Jul 3, 2024.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: