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ecstatic: msg#00003

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: ecstatic

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The Word of the Day for May 4 is:

ecstatic \ek-STAT-ik\ adjective
: of, relating to, or marked by a state of extreme
emotional excitement or rapturous delight

Example sentence:
Carla was ecstatic when she received an acceptance letter
from the college she had set her heart on attending.

Did you know?
"Ecstatic" has been used in our language since at least
1590, and the noun "ecstasy" is even older, dating from the
1300s. Both derive from the Greek verb "existanai" ("to put out
of place"), which was used in a Greek phrase meaning "to drive
someone out of his or her mind." That seems an appropriate
history for words that can describe someone who is nearly out of
his or her mind with intense emotion. In early use, "ecstatic"
was sometimes linked to mystic trances, out-of-body experiences,
and temporary madness. Today, however, it most typically implies
a state of enthusiastic excitement or intense happiness.






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