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Feb 10, 2011
This week's themeWords to describe people This week's words dyspeptic caitiff tetchy valetudinarian reticent  Read it today 
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargvaletudinarian
PRONUNCIATION:
(val-i-too-duh-NAYR-ee-uhn, -tyood-)
MEANING:
noun: A weak or sickly person, especially one who is constantly or overly
worried about his or her health.adjective: Chronically sick or concerned about one's health. ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin valetudo (state of health), from valere (to be strong or well).
Ultimately, from the Indo-European root wal- (to be strong), which is also
the source of valiant, avail, valor, value,
countervail,
polyvalent, and
wieldy. Earliest documented use: 1703.
USAGE:
"Broadway theatre has long been known as 'the fabulous invalid', but could
the old valetudinarian finally have caught a fatal cold?"Charles Spencer; British Theatre Will Thrive in a Downturn; The Telegraph (London, UK); Dec 10, 2008. See more usage examples of valetudinarian in Vocabulary.com's dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Between truth and the search for truth, I opt for the second. -Bernard Berenson, art historian (1865-1959)
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