apologia

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The Word of the Day for July 16 is: 

apologia   \ap-uh-LOH-jee-uh\   noun
     : a defense especially of one's opinions, position, or actions

Example sentence:
     The book is being promoted as an inspiring memoir of a self-made man, but 
it is mostly an apologia for various unpopular professional choices made by its 
author over the years.

Did you know?
     As you might expect, "apologia" is a close relative of "apology." Both 
words derive from Late Latin; "apologia" came to English as a direct borrowing 
while "apology" traveled through Middle French. The Latin "apologia" derives 
from a combination of the Greek prefix "apo-," meaning "away from," and the 
word "logia," from Greek "logos," meaning "speech." In their earliest English 
uses, "apologia" and "apology" meant basically the same thing: a formal defense 
or justification of one's actions or opinions. Nowadays, however, the two are 
more distinct. The modern "apology" generally involves an admission of 
wrongdoing and an expression of regret for past actions, while an "apologia" 
typically focuses on explaining, justifying, or making clear the grounds for 
some course of action, belief, or position.