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Permanent link for this word: equanimity

Jul 20, 2009

This week's theme
Miscellaneous words

This week's words
equanimity
assiduous
disinter
minatory
expatiate

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Why do you learn new words? For some, it's the joy of discovering new and unusual specimens in the language and the stories behind them. For others, it's to improve their vocabulary, whether for college or work. Sometimes readers write to say, "I'll never have a chance to use these words!"

You will. As you can see from the usage examples taken from newspapers, magazines, and books -- words in AWAD are not from a museum. They're words that are in current use, though not very often.

Still, we take the point. What some are looking for are more practical words: words they can use in an office memo or in a term paper; words they are more likely to come across in a trade report or college exam. This week we'll offer you five such practical words. Go ahead, employ them, put them into practice.

equanimity

PRONUNCIATION:

(ee-kwuh-NIM-i-tee, ek-wuh-)

MEANING:

noun: Evenness of temper in all circumstances.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin aequanimitas, from aequus (equal, even) + animus (mind, spirit).

USAGE:

"Even as a young netball star, Tharjini had no inflated opinion about herself nor did she ever take offence at the numerous teasing remarks or stares that her height drew. She met both celebrity status and silly remarks with equanimity."
Thulasi Muttulingam; A Player With Many Highs in Her Life; The Sunday Times (Colombo, Sri Lanka); Jul 12, 2009.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

A child's education should begin at least one hundred years before he is born. -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., poet, novelist, essayist, and physician (1809-1894)

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