This week’s theme
Unusual verbs

This week’s words
pernoctate
desacralize
nuncupate
reeve
senesce

“A word after a word after a word is power.” ~Margaret Atwood
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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(dee-SAY-kruh-lyz, -SAK-ruh-)

MEANING:

verb tr.: To deprive of hallowed status.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin de- (away from) + sacer (sacred). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sak- (to sanctify), which also gave us saint, consecrate, sacred, execrable, execrate, sacerdotal, and sacrilegious. Earliest documented use: 1911.

USAGE:

“Nixon fell, forever desacralizing high office.”
Joshua Ferris; Let Us Now Praise Infamous Men; The New York Times Magazine; Sep 15, 2013.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: