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querulous: msg#00003culture.language.word-of-the-day
**************************************************************** Just staring at those letter tiles on your tray? Check out the new Fourth Edition of The Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary! http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?scrabdic.htm&3 **************************************************************** The Word of the Day for February 4 is: querulous \KWAIR-yuh-luss\ adjective 1 : habitually complaining *2 : fretful, whining Example sentence: "Georgia, I'm tired of waiting," complained Grandfather in a querulous voice, his peevish expression revealing unmistakable irritation at the girl's dawdling. Did you know? English speakers have tagged fearful whiners "querulous" since late medieval times. The Middle English form of the word, "querelose," was an adaptation of the Latin adjective, "querulus," which in turn evolved from the Latin verb "queri," meaning "to complain." "Queri" is also an ancestor of the English words "quarrel" and "quarrelsome," but it isn't an ancestor of the noun "query" (meaning "question"). No need to complain that we're being coy; we're happy to let you know that "query" descends from the Latin verb "quaerere," meaning "to ask." *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. |
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