incumbent

*****************************************************************
Discover the people and events that made history ON THIS DAY. 
Sign up for the free daily newsletter from Britannica.
http://register.britannica.com/mailinglist
*****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for July 29 is: 

incumbent   \in-KUM-bunt\   noun
     1 : the holder of an office or ecclesiastical benefice 
    *2 : one that occupies a particular position or place

Example sentence:
     The two-term incumbent has already raised almost a million 
dollars for the upcoming congressional race.

Did you know?
     When "incumbent" was first used in English in the 15th 
century, it referred to someone who occupied a "benefice," or a 
paid religious position. This was often a lifetime appointment; 
the person could only be forced to leave the office in the case 
of certain specific legal conflicts. In the mid-17th 
century, "incumbent" came to refer to anyone holding any office, 
including elected positions. These days, in the American 
political system, "incumbent" generally refers to someone who is 
the current holder of a position during an election to fill that 
position. "Incumbent" came to English through Anglo-French, and 
derives from the Latin "incumbere," meaning "to lie down on."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.