This week’s theme
Portmanteaux (blend words)

This week’s words
rurban
squiggle
palimony
guesstimate
contraption

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(PAL-uh-moh-nee)

MEANING:

noun: Financial support or other compensation given by one member of an unmarried couple to another after separation.

ETYMOLOGY:

A blend of pal and alimony, from Latin alimonia (sustenance), from alere (to nourish). Ultimately from the Indo-European root al- (to grow or to nourish), which also gave us adolescent, adult, old, alumnus, altitude, enhance, coalesce, prolific, outre, and hauteur. Earliest documented use: 1977.

USAGE:

“NBA star Blake Griffin is being sued for palimony by his former girlfriend Brynn Cameron, who alleges he abandoned her and their children to pursue a relationship with Kendall Jenner.”
Did Blake Griffin Slam-Dunk His Ex-Girlfriend for Kendall Jenner?; The Sun (Lowell, Massachusetts); Feb 16, 2018.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: