A.Word.A.Day		About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us

Home Today's Word Yesterday's Word Archives FAQ

Discuss Email this Feedback RSS/XML Permalink A.Word.A.Day--junta This week's theme: words derived from Indo-European roots. junta (HOON-tuh, JUHN-) noun A group, especially one made of military officers, ruling a country after a coup. [From Spanish and Portuguese junta (committee, association), from Latin jungere (to join). Ultimately from the Indo-European root yeug- (to join) that also gave us yoke, junction, jugular, adjust, Sanskrit yoga, and Greek zeugma.] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Burma's military junta has been freeing prisoners from jail and then recruiting them to bolster gangs that have been used to attack pro-democracy activists." Daniel Howden; Junta Frees Prisoners For Anti-protest Mobs; The Independent (London, UK); Aug 29, 2007. X-Bonus It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910)

Subscribe: Sign up to receive A.Word.A.Day in your mailbox every day. "The most welcomed, most enduring piece of daily mass e-mail in cyberspace." -The New York Times Sponsored by: Give the Gift of Words Share the magic of words. Send a gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day. Anu on Words: Writer Magazine SF Gate SF Gate Globe & Mail Interact: Bulletin board Wordsmith Talk Moderated Chat Wordsmith Chat Readers' Voice AWADmail