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Sep 4, 2023
This week’s themeMisleading words This week’s words pronation militate instar diaeresis funambulism 
Image: Ducky2315 / Wikimedia 
Previous week’s theme Words with AI usage examples 
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu GargIf you see the word pronation and your first guess is that it’s related to patriotism, prepare to have your etymological expectations upended. The word has absolutely nothing to do with patriotism or matriotism. This week we have picked words that don’t always mean what they seem. Sometimes quirky, sometimes confounding, but always captivating -- welcome to a week of words that are downright deceptive! Be prepared to encounter words that whimsically waltz away from their phonetic first impressions. Surrender to the sheer unpredictability of English. pronation
PRONUNCIATION:
(pro-NAY-shuhn)
MEANING:
noun: 1. Rotation of the forearm so that the palm faces downward or backward. 2. Rotation of the foot such that the weight is borne on its inner edge. 3. The resulting position when the arm or foot is rotated in such a manner. ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin pronare (to turn or lean forward). Earliest documented use:
1657. A counterpart is supination in which the palm is facing upward or
the weight is borne on the outer edge of the foot.
USAGE:
“The detective turned the shoes upside down and ran her gaze over the
soles. ... The wear pattern was typical of someone with moderate pronation.” Diane Kelly; Bending the Paw; St. Martin’s; 2020. See more usage examples of pronation in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
In hatred as in love, we grow like the thing we brood upon. What we loathe,
we graft into our very soul. -Mary Renault, novelist (4 Sep 1905-1983)
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