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A.Word.A.Day--malacia

Pronunciation Sound Clip RealAudio

This week's theme: miscellaneous words.

malacia (mu-LA-shuh, -shee-uh) noun

1. An abnormal craving for spiced food.

2. Softening of the organ or tissue.

[From Greek malakia (softness), ultimately from the Indo-European root mel- (soft) which also gave us malacology (study of mollusks), malt, melt, and mulch.]

See more usage examples of malacia in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

"Des Esseintes had tasted the feasts of the flesh, with the appetite of a capricious man who suffers from malacia." Joris-Karl Huysmans, translated by Margaret Mauldon; Against Nature; Oxford University Press; 1998.

X-Bonus

Contentment is a pearl of great price, and whoever procures it at the expense of ten thousand desires makes a wise and a happy purchase. -John Balguy

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