Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ

A.Word.A.Day--assoil

assoil (uh-SOIL) verb tr.

1. To pardon.

2. To atone for.

[From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin absolvere (to absolve).]

"I sank my teeth into the salt ground.
There was no cry.
Only later, when the city put on sackcloth and starved its cattle,
I heard something hiss of pity rising from the dry, ungathered grain.
An assoiling sound."
Barbara J Orton, Jonah, Literary Review (Madison, New Jersey), Spring 1998.

This week's theme: words that appear to be mis-spellings of everyday words.

X-Bonus