This week’s theme
Words that appear to be misspellings

This week’s words
cliticize
ordonnance
settlor
exorcise
equipollent

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(EK-sor/suhr-syz)

MEANING:

verb tr.:
1. To drive out something or someone undesirable, such as an evil spirit, malign influence, troubling feeling, etc.
2. To free a person or place of an evil spirit.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old French exorciser, from Latin exorcizare, from Greek exorkizein (to swear a person), from ex- (out) + horkizein (to make one swear), from horkos (oath). Earliest documented use: 1546.

USAGE:

“Chewing on her lower lip, she knew somehow, she had to exorcise her feelings for the young man before he took up permanent residence in her heart.”
Lizzie Starr; Keltic Design; Elizabeth Struble; 2016.

“And voters have a White House to exorcise.”
Brian Dickerson; Donald Trump Suggests November Election Isn’t Safe -- But He’s the One in Trouble; Detroit Free Press; Jul 30, 2020.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: