A.Word.A.Day --elutriate

A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact

Home

Today's Word

Archives

Jun 4, 2018

This week’s theme
Verbs

This week’s words
elutriate
straiten
obvert
impend
demit

“Language is a city to the building of which every human being brought a stone.” ~Emerson
Invite friends & family

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

It’s called verbe in French, verbi in Finnish, verbo in Spanish, verbu in Corsican, and ... What? No takers for verba? There has to be a language ... but my favorite is the name that the Dutch language has given it: werkwoord, literally a work word.

Yes, I’m talking about verbs, the hardest working words in any language. Can’t do without them. This sentence no verb? That sentence, no sentence!

Verba volant, so before that happens, let’s dedicate this week to verbs.

elutriate

PRONUNCIATION:

(i/ee/uh-LOO-tree-ayt)

MEANING:

verb tr.: To purify or separate, especially by washing or by straining.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin elutriare (to wash out). Earliest documented use: 1731.

USAGE:

“But he often also served as the discreet intermediary, when necessary, between his clients and the less elutriated members of the bar expert in such coarser specialties as divorce and immigration law.”
James Duffy; Dog Bites Man, City Shocked!; Simon & Schuster; 2001.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you've got a problem. Everything else is an inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. A lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat, and a lump in the breast are not the same kind of lump. One needs to learn the difference. -Robert Fulghum, author (b. 4 Jun 1937)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise