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Dec 28, 2010
This week's themeWords derived from the names of body parts This week's words supercilious impugn sinister orchidaceous charivari Follow us on Discuss Feedback RSS/XML A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargimpugn
PRONUNCIATION:
(im-PYOON)
MEANING:
verb tr.:
To call in question or cast doubt upon.
ETYMOLOGY:
Via French from Latin impugnare (to attack), from im- (towards) + pugnare
(to fight), from pugnus (fist). Ultimately from the Indo-European root peuk-
(to prick) which is also the source of point, puncture, pungent, punctual,
poignant, pounce, and poniard. Earliest documented use: 1384.
USAGE:
"'You can't impugn somebody's integrity without having proper evidence,'
David Collier, chief executive of board, said earlier."Huw Richards; Troubled Tour Ends for Pakistan; The New York Times; Sep 23, 2010. See more usage examples of impugn in Vocabulary.com's dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. -John Gilmore, software engineer and activist (b. 1957)
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