This week's theme
Well-traveled words

This week's words
dragoman
golgotha
mandarin
jubilee
Mata Hari


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Next week's theme
Words that appear to be misspelled

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(MA-tuh HAR-ee, MAT-uh HAR-ee)

MEANING:

noun: A seductive woman who works as a spy.

ETYMOLOGY:

After exotic dancer Mata Hari, a stage name of Margaretha Geertruida Zelle (1876-1917). She was a Dutch woman, who took a Malay name, allegedly spied for the Germans, and was executed by the French. Her stage name Mata Hari means sun, literally "eye of the day", from Malay mata (eye) + hari (day, dawn). Earliest documented use: 1936.

USAGE:

"In London, Sophia joins the war effort ... and embarks upon improbable espionage escapades, hoping to come off as a Mata Hari in furs and printed chiffon."
Liesl Schillinger; The Persistence of Levity; Newsweek (New York); Sep 20, 2013.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: