This week’s theme
Terms borrowed from French

This week’s words
politesse
laissez-faire
de rigueur
soi-disant
laissez-aller

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(les-ay-FAIR)

MEANING:

noun:
1. The practice of noninterference in the affairs of others.
2. The economic policy allowing businesses to operate with little intervention from the government.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French, literally “allow to do”. Earliest documented use: 1825.

USAGE:

“Perhaps we need to reappraise our laissez-faire attitude to domestic cats and be more proactive in trying to contain the burgeoning feral population.”
James Parry; Britain’s Burgeoning Feral Cats; The Independent (London, UK); Oct 25, 2012.

See more usage examples of laissez-faire in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: