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Mar 7, 2022
This week’s theme
Overachievers from mythology

This week’s words
aphrodisiac
titanic
borasco
vulcanic
gorgonian

aphrodisiac
“If this thing was an aphrodisiac, would I be sitting here talking to you on a Friday night?”
Cartoon: Dan Piraro

Previous week’s theme
Hands
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

Last month, we met five overachievers from mythology. Overachievers, because each of them has given us multiple eponyms (a word coined after a person).

As promised, we’ve lined up these mythical characters again this week. You odyssey them again and discover other eponyms they have inspired.

aphrodisiac

PRONUNCIATION:
(af-ruh-DEE-zee-ak, -DIZ-ee-ak)

MEANING:
noun: Something, such as a food or drug, that increases sexual desire.
adjective: Arousing sexual desire.

ETYMOLOGY:
After Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty in Greek Mythology. Earliest documented use: 1710. Another word coined after her is hermaphrodite.

USAGE:
“Writing gave [Jackie Collins] a power like no one else’s, the ultimate aphrodisiac.”
Hollywood Undressed; The Economist (London, UK); Sep 26, 2015.

“’Everything I do at Lyon Broadcasting makes me very, very happy.’
‘Ah.’ He nodded. ‘Success is your aphrodisiac, I guess.’”
Roz Denny Fox; The Lyon Legacy; Harlequin; 2011.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Nature's laws affirm instead of prohibit. If you violate her laws, you are your own prosecuting attorney, judge, jury, and hangman. -Luther Burbank, horticulturist (7 Mar 1849-1926)

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