|
|
Enron Mail |
***************************************************************
Did you know Julius Caesar moved January to the head of the year? Click here for your guide to word histories. http://www.m-w.com/book/literead/wordhist.htm *************************************************************** The Word of the Day for January 6 is: perennial \puh-REH-nee-ul\ (adjective) 1 : present at all seasons of the year 2 : continuing to live from year to year 3 a : persistent, enduring b : continuing without interruption : constant, perpetual *c : regularly repeated or renewed : recurrent Example sentence: The perennial problem of what to do with our pets while we were on vacation was solved for this year when Aunt Ruth volunteered to house-sit. Did you know? Nowadays when we talk about "perennial plants," or simply "perennials" ("perennial" can be a noun, too), we mean plants that die back seasonally but produce new growth in the spring. But originally "perennial" was equivalent to "evergreen," used for plants that remain with us all year. We took this "throughout the year" sense straight from the Romans, whose Latin "perennis" attached "per-" ("throughout") to a form of "annus" ("year"). The poet Ovid, writing around the beginning of the first millennium, used the Latin word to refer to a "perennial spring" (water source), and the scholar Pliny used it of birds that don't migrate. Our "perennial" retains these same uses, for streams and occasionally for birds, but it has long had extended meanings too. *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. ---------------- Brought to you by Merriam-Webster, Inc. http://www.Merriam-Webster.com ---------------- Subscribe or unsubscribe to Word of the Day via the Web at: http://www.Merriam-Webster.com/service/subinst.htm To join the list via e-mail, send a blank e-mail to: mw-wod-subscribe-request@listserv.webster.m-w.com To leave the list via e-mail, send a blank e-mail to: mw-wod-signoff-request@listserv.webster.m-w.com Questions about your subscription? Write to: mw-wod-request@listserv.webster.m-w.com Questions or comments about the Word of the Day? Write to: word@Merriam-Webster.com © 2002 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
|