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Jul 14, 2010
This week's themeMiscellaneous words This week's words paean mephitic equipoise risible folderol Works based on AWAD An ongoing soap opera, haiku, limericks & more 
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargequipoise
PRONUNCIATION:
(EE-kwuh-poiz, EK-wuh-)
MEANING:
noun:
1. A state of balance.
2. Something that serves as a counterbalance.verb tr.: To counterbalance. ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin aequi- (equal) + Old French pois (weight), from Latin pendere
(to weigh). Ultimately from the Indo-European root (s)pen- (to draw,
to spin), which is also the source of pendulum, spider, pound, pansy,
pendant, ponder, appendix, penthouse, depend, and spontaneous.
USAGE:
"In his [Denzel Washington's] luminous portrait, dignity and
destructiveness find a perfect equipoise."John Lahr; Theatre: Wheels of Misfortune; The New Yorker; May 10, 2010. See more usage examples of equipoise in Vocabulary.com's dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Conscience is a man's compass, and though the needle sometimes deviates, though one often perceives irregularities when directing one's course by it, one must still try to follow its direction. -Vincent van Gogh, painter (1853-1890)
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