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Nov 9, 2017
This week’s theme
Unusual verbs

This week’s words
pernoctate
desacralize
nuncupate
reeve
senesce

“Words are the small change of thought.” ~Jules Renard
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

reeve

PRONUNCIATION:
(reev)

MEANING:
verb tr.: To pass (a rope or the like) through.
noun: A local official.

ETYMOLOGY:
For verb: Of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1600.
For noun: From Old English gerefa (high official). Earliest documented use: before 12th century.

USAGE:
“Lines of a second pulley are reeved through blocks high on the foremast.”
Peter Matthiessen; Far Tortuga; Vintage Books; 1975.

“When a reeve said such words, in that tone of voice, a man had to obey.”
Kate Elliott; Spirit Gate; Tor; 2006.

See more usage examples of reeve in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner ... on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. ... That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that. -Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (9 Nov 1934-1996)

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