causerie

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The Word of the Day for July 27 is:

causerie   \koh-zuh-REE\   noun
    *1: an informal conversation : chat
     2: a short informal essay

Example sentence:
     After the table was cleared and coffee was served, the 
dinner guests rose and continued their causerie in the other 
room.

Did you know?
     "Causerie" first appeared in English in the early 19th 
century, and it can be traced back to the French "causer" ("to 
chat") and ultimately to the Latin "causa" ("cause, reason"). 
The word was originally used to refer to a friendly or informal 
conversation. Then, in 1849, the author and critic Charles-
Augustin Sainte-Beuve began publishing a weekly column devoted 
to literary topics in the French newspaper _Le Constitutionnel_. 
These critical essays were called "Causeries du lundi" ("Monday 
chats") and were later collected into a series of books of the 
same name. After that, the word "causerie" acquired a second 
sense in English, referring to a brief, informal article or 
essay.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.