edify

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The Word of the Day for September 20 is: 

edify   \ED-uh-fye\   verb
     : to instruct and improve especially in moral and religious 
knowledge; also : enlighten, inform 

Example sentence:
     Jesse told the congregation, "The inspiring sermons of our 
new minister will edify you and propel you to greater 
spirituality."

Did you know?
     The Latin noun "aedes," meaning "house" or "temple," is the 
root of "aedificare," a verb meaning "to erect a house." 
Generations of speakers built on that meaning, and by the Late 
Latin period, the verb had gained the figurative sense of "to 
instruct or improve spiritually." The word eventually passed 
through Anglo-French before Middle English speakers adopted it 
as "edify" during the 14th century. Two of its early 
meanings, "to build" and "to establish," are now considered 
archaic; the only current sense of "edify" is essentially the 
same as that figurative meaning in Late Latin, "to instruct and 
improve in moral and religious matters."