cunctation

****************************************************************
Word game lovers! Enjoy a free trial subscription to 
Merriam-Webster Unabridged and try our new brainteasers!
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged_sub.pl?refr=U_wod
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for April 30 is:

cunctation   \kunk-TAY-shun\   noun
     : delay 

Example sentence: 
     When a case that had been carried on the court calendar for nearly three 
years was brought before the judge, he admonished the lawyer for flagrant 
cunctation.

Did you know?
     "Cunctation" isn't the only word we have from Latin "cunctari," which 
means "to hesitate." There are the adjectives "cunctatory," "cunctatious," and 
"cunctative" ("tending to delay"), and the noun "cunctator" ("one who delays"). 
Without hesitation, we will tell you that although "cunctation" has been around 
for over 400 years, all these words are pretty rare -- but that's not to say 
that no one ever uses them now. For example, our example sentence was inspired 
by an actual modern use in reference to a cunctatory lawyer. Nor are they just 
"lawyer words": "The FAA has a cunctative approach to supervising airline 
security," wrote _Playboy_ magazine in 2002. So, if you delight in hard words, 
don't forever put off using one of these vocabulary-boosting terms. 





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 043006 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