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Sep 25, 2012
This week's theme
Verbs

This week's words
crepitate
ramify
ameliorate
adhibit
decorticate

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

ramify

PRONUNCIATION:
(RAM-i-fy)

MEANING:
verb tr., intr.: To divide into branches.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin ramus (branch). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wrad- (root) which also sprouted words such as root, wort, licorice, radical, radish, rutabaga, eradicate, and deracinate. Earliest documented use: 1425.

USAGE:
"Andrew offered to read me a handful of passages from the manuscript ... which had ramified so uncontrollably that it was turning into several distinct projects."
Nicolas Rothwell; The Red Highway; Black Inc.; 2009.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them. -James Baldwin, writer (1924-1987)

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