This week’s theme
New words

This week’s words
dox
photoshop
defriend
affluenza
peeps

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(di-FREND)

MEANING:

verb tr.: To remove someone from one’s list of online friends.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin de- (from, away) + friend, from Old English freond. Ultimately from the Indo-European root pri- (to love), which also gave us free, Friday, and Sanskrit priya (beloved). Earliest documented use: 2004.

NOTES:

The first use of the word ‘defriend’ in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 2004. In contrast, the first use of the word ‘befriend’ goes all the way to 1559. It took us another 100 years to ‘unfriend’ someone -- 1659. The verb ‘to friend’ goes way back to 1225. Finally, the noun ‘friend’ is attested in Old English (c. 450-1150).]

USAGE:

“In Trumplandia to our south, presidential candidates and governors are trying to defriend a quarter of the world’s population and put up ‘No Muslims allowed’ signs.”
Josh Freed; Tips on Life in Montreal for Syrian Refugees; Montreal Gazette (Canada); Dec 19, 2015.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: