A.Word.A.Day --propine

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Today's Word

propine

PRONUNCIATION:

(pro-PEEN, PYN)

MEANING:

verb tr.: To gift, tip, or pledge.
noun: A gift or tip.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin propinare (to drink to someone’s health, to present), from Greek propinein (to drink first, to give), from pro- (for, before) + pinein (to drink). Earliest documented use: 1448.

USAGE:

“The priests of a neighbouring convent, in expectation of the ample donation ... which Cedric had propined, attended upon the car.”
Walter Scott; Ivanhoe; A. Constable & Co.; 1820.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Most men resemble great deserted palaces: the owner occupies only a few rooms and has closed off wings where he never ventures. -François Mauriac, writer, Nobel laureate (11 Oct 1885-1970)

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