A.Word.A.Day --epicrisis

A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact

Home

Today's Word

epicrisis

PRONUNCIATION:

(i-PIK-ruh-sis, EP-i-kry-sis for #3)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A quotation followed by a commentary upon it.
2. A summary, review, or discussion of a case.
3. A secondary crisis, something that follows a crisis.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek epikrisis (judgment), from epikrenein (to judge), from epi- (upon) + krenein (to judge). Earliest documented use: 1593.

USAGE:

“Even the very limited experience gained by our seminar has led me to corrections and additions which will be discussed in an epicrisis.”
Owsei Temkin; The Double Face of Janus; Johns Hopkins University Press; 2006.

“The epicrisis has to be written, you know. ... You can’t be discharged until the epicrisis is ready.”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Translation: David Burg & Nicholas Bethell); Cancer Ward; Dial Press; 1968.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

In an earlier stage of our development most human groups held to a tribal ethic. Members of the tribe were protected, but people of other tribes could be robbed or killed as one pleased. Gradually the circle of protection expanded, but as recently as 150 years ago we did not include blacks. So African human beings could be captured, shipped to America, and sold. In Australia white settlers regarded Aborigines as a pest and hunted them down, much as kangaroos are hunted down today. Just as we have progressed beyond the blatantly racist ethic of the era of slavery and colonialism, so we must now progress beyond the speciesist ethic of the era of factory farming, of the use of animals as mere research tools, of whaling, seal hunting, kangaroo slaughter, and the destruction of wilderness. We must take the final step in expanding the circle of ethics. -Peter Singer, philosopher and professor of bioethics (b. 6 Jul 1946)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise