A happy 2016 to all our readers! May you never be lost for words when you should speak up.

This week’s theme
First words

This week’s words
paternoster
mittimus
gaudeamus
debenture
magnificat

This week’s comments
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Next week’s theme
New words

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(mag-NIF-i-kat)

MEANING:

noun:
1. The hymn of the Virgin Mary in Luke 1:46-55.
2. An utterance of praise.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin magnificat (magnifies), the first word of the Latin version of the hymn that opens with “Magnificat anima mea Dominum” (“My soul magnifies the Lord”), from Latin magnus (great). Ultimately from the Indo-European root meg- (great), which is also the source of magnificent, maharajah, master, mayor, maestro, magnate, magistrate, maximum, magnify, mickle, mahatma, magnanimous, magisterial, magnifico, and majestious. Earliest documented use: before 450.

USAGE:

“Upon this level of success in my life, I have enough reason to intone my magnificat in honour of various people.”
Charles Lwanga Mubiru; The Uganda Martyrs and the Need for Appropriate Role Models in Adolescents’ Moral Formation; Lit Verlag; 2012.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: