pelagic

****************************************************************
Attention word gurus:  try WORD SWEEP!, the first board game to feature 
Merriam-Webster definitions! Available at Borders Bookstores. 
http://www.wordsweep.com
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for December 14 is: 

pelagic   \puh-LAJ-ik\   adjective
      : of, relating to, or living or occurring in the open sea : oceanic 

Example sentence:
     "Pelagic birds, seldom seen on land, soar offshore for the eager birder." 
(William Longgood, _The New York Times_, April 1984)

Did you know?
     "Pelagic" comes to us from Greek, via Latin. The Greek word "pelagikos" 
became "pelagicus" in Latin and then "pelagic" in English. ("Pelagikos" is 
derived from "pelagos," the Greek word for "sea," plus the adjectival suffix 
"-ikos.") "Pelagic" first showed up in dictionaries in 1656; a definition from 
that time says that "Pelagick" meant "of the Sea, or that liveth in the Sea." A 
full 350 years later, writers are still using "pelagic" with the same meaning, 
albeit less frequently than its more familiar synonym "oceanic."





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