This week’s theme
Unusual synonyms

This week’s words
ombrifuge
exemplum
splanchnic
singultus
indagate

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(ig-ZEM-pluhm)

MEANING:

noun:
1. An example or model.
2. An anecdote used to illustrate a moral truth or support an argument.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin exemplum (example), from eximere (to take out), from ex- (out) + emere (to take). Ultimately from the Indo-European root em- (to take or distribute), which also gave us example, sample, assume, consume, prompt, ransom, vintage, redeem, diriment, subsume, and peremptory. Earliest documented use: 1482.

USAGE:

“His own life became in some ways an exemplum of classical standards, through the elegance of the book-lined rooms that he inhabited and the impeccable decorum of his clothes.”
Professor David Watkin (obituary); The Times (London, UK); Sep 10, 2018.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: