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Jan 30, 2013
This week's theme
There's a word for it

This week's words
overmorrow
filipendulous
paresthesia
armscye
onomastics

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

paresthesia or paraesthesia

PRONUNCIATION:
(par-uhs-THEE-zhuh, -zhee-)

MEANING:
noun: A sensation of pricking, tingling, burning, etc. on the skin.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek para- (at, beyond) + aisthesis (sensation or perception). Ultimately from the Indo-European root au- (to perceive) that also gave us audio, audience, audit, auditorium, anesthesia, aesthetic, anesthetic, esthesia, synesthesia, and obey. Earliest documented use: 1848.

USAGE:
"Cronk muttered to himself, wiggling his right foot in an effort to relieve the paresthesia."
Bruce Banta; A Dead Man's Chest; Xlibris; 2011.

See more usage examples of paresthesia in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers of youthful looks. -Charles Dickens, novelist (1812-1870)

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