devious

****************************************************************
Are the latest developments in technology making your old 
dictionary look obsolete? Step up to our Eleventh Edition!
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?c11.htm&1
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for April 4 is: 

devious   \DEE-vee-us\   adjective
    *1 : deviating from a straight line : roundabout
     2 : behaving wrongly : errant 
     3 : tricky, cunning; also : deceptive

Example sentence:
     In _The Discoverers_, Daniel J. Boorstin describes the Strait of Magellan 
as "the narrowest, most devious, most circuitous of all the straits connecting 
two great bodies of water."

Did you know?
     If you think someone devious has lost their way, you're right, 
etymologically speaking -- the word derives from the Latin adjective "devius," 
itself formed by a combination of the prefix "de-" ("from, away") and the noun 
"via," meaning "way." When "devious" was first used in the late 16th century, 
it referred to a literal wandering off the "way," describing something that 
meandered or had no fixed course ("a devious route" or "devious breezes"). 
Relatively quickly, however, the word came to describe someone or something 
that has metaphorically rather than literally left the "right path," and then 
to apply to deceitful or otherwise behavior that is not "straight"-forward.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. 





You Are Subscribed As: GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe, change your e-mail address or to subscribe to the html
version of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, featuring audio
pronunciations, please visit:

http://www.startsampling.com/sm/wod/changeofaddress.iphtml

(c) 2006 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

Merriam-Webster, Inc.
47 Federal Street
P.O. Box 281
Springfield, MA 01102

*mf mwt 040406 GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx mf*

---
You are currently subscribed to mw-text as: GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
leave-mw-text-979910Y@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx