This week’s theme
Words from religion

This week’s words
gospel
messiah
apocalypse
exodus
crusade


Previous week’s theme
Words derived from body parts

---

A.Word.A.Day

So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind
Is all the sad world needs.

I am the voice of the voiceless;
Through me the dumb shall speak,
Till the deaf world’s ear be made to hear
The wrongs of the wordless weak.

PRONUNCIATION:

(GOS-puhl)

MEANING:

noun:
1. Message, teachings, or principles of a person or organization.
2. Something regarded as authoritative or infallible, especially when believed unquestionably.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old English gōdspel, from gōd (good) + spell (tale, news). Earliest documented use: 950.

NOTES:

Is God good? We won’t comment on that, but in gospel, it’s a mistaken assumption, literally speaking. In Old English gōdspel, the word gōd (with a long o) meaning “good” changed to “god” with the erroneous assumption that godspel means “God’s news” instead of “good news”. Ultimately, the word is a translation of Latin evangelium or bona annuntiatio (good news), which itself is a translation of Greek euangelion (good news).

USAGE:

“The No. 3 man [Rick Santorum] in the Senate leadership is hard at work spreading the GOP gospel. Will his crusades take him all the way to the White House?”
Howard Fineman & Andrew Romano; Mister Right; Newsweek (New York); Jan 3, 2005.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: