mitier

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The Word of the Day for July 13 is:

metier   \MET-yay\   noun
     1 : vocation, trade 
    *2 : an area of activity in which one excels : forte 

Example sentence:
     Penelope dabbled in poetry for a while, but she eventually 
returned to writing novels, which was her true metier.

Did you know? 
     The words "metier," "employment," "occupation," 
and "calling" all perform similar functions in English, though 
each word gets the job done in its own way. These hard-working 
synonyms can all refer to a specific sustained activity, 
especially an activity engaged in to earn a living, but these 
words also have slightly different shades of 
meaning. "Employment" implies simply that one was hired and is 
being paid by an employer, whereas "occupation" usually suggests 
special training, and "calling" generally applies to an 
occupation viewed as a vocation or profession. "Metier," a 
French borrowing acquired by English speakers in the 18th 
century, typically implies a calling for which one feels 
especially fitted.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.