A.Word.A.Day --sui generis

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Jan 23, 2009

This week's theme
Words from Obama

This week's words
cohere
syncretic
endemic
abrogate
sui generis

Next week's theme
Latin terms in English

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

sui generis

PRONUNCIATION:

(soo-ee/eye JEN-uhr-is)

MEANING:

adjective: Of its own kind; unique.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin sui (of its own) + generis (kind).

USAGE:

"Time: What's the best piece of advice that you've gotten from someone about being President?"
Obama: Well, precisely because it's sui generis, the only people that really know are the collection of ex-Presidents we have."
The Interview; Time (New York); Dec 29, 2008.

See more usage examples of sui generis in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Thank everyone who calls out your faults, your anger, your impatience, your egotism; do this consciously, voluntarily. -Jean Toomer, poet and novelist (1894-1967)

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