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Apr 15, 2022
This week’s theme
Eponyms

This week’s words
pyrrhonism
morphetic
Rothschild
roorback
Hercules

Hercules
Hercules and the Nemean Lion
(1776-77)
Art: Marcello Bacciarelli

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There’s a verb form for it
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

Hercules

PRONUNCIATION:
(HUHR-kyuh-leez)

MEANING:
noun: A man of extraordinary strength or size.

ETYMOLOGY:
After Hercules, the son of Zeus and Alcmene in Greek mythology. Hercules performed many feats requiring extraordinary strength and effort, such as cleaning the Augean stables. He also slew the monster Hydra. Earliest documented use: 1567. Also see herculean.

USAGE:
“[Doug Gilmour] looks nothing like a Hercules who can lift whole teams and whole buildings.”
David Shoalts; New Jersey Staves Off Elimination; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); May 1, 1998.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Men of lofty genius when they are doing the least work are most active. -Leonardo da Vinci, painter, engineer, musician, and scientist (15 Apr 1452-1519)

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