This week’s theme
Palindromes

This week’s words
ere
ecce
minim
tirrit
murdrum


This week’s comments
AWADmail 896

Next week’s theme
Coined words

---

A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(MUR-drum)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A murder, especially in secret.
2. A fine paid for a murder.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin murdrum (murder), from Old French murdre (murder). Earliest documented use: 1290.

NOTES:

Before England went around colonizing the world, they were colonized/conquered by Romans, Angles/Saxons/Jutes, Vikings, and Normans. The locals vented by killing their new lords. So the law came down that any murder of a Norman was to result in a heavy fine for the whole village. On the other hand, if the person killed was an Englishman or a Englishwoman: pas de probleme. This fine was known as murdrum.

USAGE:

“The coroner knew that the smith was doing what he could to avoid the murdrum fine.”
Bernard Knight; The Elixir of Death; Pocket Books; 2006.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: