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Apr 14, 2011
This week's theme
Words originating in knots

This week's words
knotty
denouement
gordian
nodus
knaggy
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

nodus

PRONUNCIATION:
(NOH-duhs)
plural nodi (NOH-dy)

MEANING:
noun: A complicated situation or problem.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin nodus (knot). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ned- (to bind), which is also the source of node, noose, annex, connect, ouch, nettle, and denouement. Earliest documented use: before 1400.

USAGE:
"The CPC project is a nodus of interests. A half of its stock belongs to the governments of three states: Russia, Kazakhstan, and the Sultanate of Oman. The remainder is in private hands."
Public-and-private: Easier Said Than Done; The Times of Central Asia (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan); Mar 31, 2006.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Every age is fed on illusions, lest men should renounce life early and the human race come to an end. -Joseph Conrad, novelist (1857-1924)

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