This week’s theme
Unusual synonyms

This week’s words
expectorate
seism
autochthon
leechdom
festinate

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(o-TOK-thun)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A native; an aborigine.
2. Something, as a rock, formed or originating in the place where found.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek autochthon (of the land itself), from auto- (self) + chthon (earth, land). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dhghem- (earth), which also sprouted human, homicide, humble, homage, chamomile, exhume, inhume, chthonic, disinter, chameleonic, and Persian zamindar (landholder). Earliest documented use: 1538. The opposite of this term is allochthon.

USAGE:

“A Bavarian autochthon, Werner Herzog has been a passionate imagemaker since the early 1960s.”
Tom Webber; The Dream Weaver; New Statesman (London, UK); Feb 13, 2006.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: