This week’s theme
Illustrated words

This week’s words
cherubic
nidus
pelagic
rutilant
tatterdemalion

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(NY-duhs)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A nest.
2. A source or the central point, especially of infection where bacteria or other pathogens breed.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin nidus (nest). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sed- (to sit), which also gave us nest, sit, chair, saddle, assess, sediment, soot, cathedral, tetrahedron, nidifugous (leaving the nest soon after birth), and nidicolous (remaining with parents). Earliest documented use: 1691.

USAGE:

“The first permanent building was ... the nidus of the new town and the start of tremendous growth.”
Tracy Conrad; Indio’s School Bell to Shine Again as Symbol; The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, California); Sep 18, 2022.

See more usage examples of nidus in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: