This week’s theme
Terms borrowed from French

This week’s words
politesse
laissez-faire
de rigueur
soi-disant
laissez-aller

This week's comments
AWADmail 674

Next week's theme
There is a word for it

---

A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(les-ay-ah-LAY)

MEANING:

noun: Unrestrained freedom.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French laisser-aller (to allow to go). Earliest documented use: 1842.

USAGE:

“Throughout the concert, O’Carroll struck a delicate balance between order and laissez-aller that yielded crisp ensembles.”
Reviews; Irish Times (Dublin); Jul 8, 2005.

“In the laissez-aller atmosphere of 1960s’ Manhattan, an MBA or a five-year plan was hardly required.”
Guy Trebay; A Man of Another, Cooler City; The New York Times; Aug 4, 2013.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: