|
Home
|
Jan 8, 2018
This week’s themeLong words with short definitions This week’s words senectitude weltanschauung infundibuliform floccinaucinihilipilification pneumonoultramicrosco- picsilicovolcanoconiosis 
Photo: Damian Gadal
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu GargRecently, when I featured the word exeleutherostomize (meaning “to speak out freely”) several readers noted that the word itself is longer than its definition. Another example is the word abbreviation, which is described as a long word to describe a short word. What other words are like this, words that take more letters to spell than to define? I was intrigued. What other words are like this -- words that take more letters to spell than to define? This week’s words are the result of that investigation. What word have you found that has a spelling longer than its definition? Share it below or email us at words@wordsmith.org. senectitude
PRONUNCIATION:
(si-NEK-ti-tood, -tyood)
MEANING:
noun: Old age.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin senectus (old age), from senex (old). Ultimately from the
Indo-European root sen- (old), which is also the ancestor of senior, sir,
sire, senate, senile, Spanish señor, and surly (which is an alteration
of sirly, as in sir-ly). Earliest documented use: 1796.
USAGE:
“While the life span of man undoubtedly had been prolonged, the problem
of senectitude had by no means been conquered, and that aged men in
positions of public trust could constitute a definite hazard.” Edwin O’Connor; The Last Hurrah; Little, Brown; 1956. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression,
whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of its
business, cannot help making celebrities of the people who would destroy
it. -Lewis H. Lapham, editor and writer (b. 8 Jan 1935)
|
|
Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise
© 1994-2024 Wordsmith