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Old 11-27-2003, 05:27 AM   #1 (permalink)
JadziaDax
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Word of the day November 27

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The Word of the Day for November 27 is:

abstemious • \ab-STEE-mee-uss\ • (adjective) marked by restraint especially in the consumption of food or alcohol; also : reflecting such restraint

A little more information about today’s word:
"Abstemious" and "abstain" look alike, and both have meanings involving self-restraint or self-denial. So they must both come from the same source, right? Well, that's partly true. Both get their start from the Latin prefix "abs-," meaning "from" or "away," but "abstain" traces to "abs-" plus the Latin verb "tenere" (meaning "to hold"), while "abstemious" gets its "-temious" from a suffix akin to the Latin noun "temetum," meaning "intoxicating drink." (It makes sense, therefore, that abstemious behavior usually involves staying away from intoxicating drinks.) "Abstain" is the older word, first appearing in the 14th century; "abstemious" didn't turn up in print in English until 1609.

My sentence:
My 100-year-old aunt attributes her longevity to her abstemious habits.

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

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