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miscible: msg#00019

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Subject: miscible

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The Word of the Day for January 20 is:

miscible \MISS-uh-bul\ adjective
: capable of being mixed; specifically : capable of mixing in any ratio
without separation of two phases

Example sentence:
Mr. Remington's class demonstration showed that, to paraphrase an old
saying, oil and water are indeed not miscible.

Did you know?
"Miscible" isn't simply a lesser-known synonym of "mixable" -- it's also
a cousin. It comes to us from the Medieval Latin adjective "miscibilis," which
has the same meaning as "miscible" and which derives in turn from Latin
"miscere," meaning "to mix." "Miscere" is also the ultimate source of our
"mix"; its past participle "mixtus" (meaning "mixed") spawned "mixte" in
Anglo-French and Middle English, and "mix" came about as a back-formation of
"mixte." The suffix "-able" gives us "mixable," thereby completing its link to
"miscible." "Miscible" turns up most frequently in scientific discussions where
it is used especially to describe fluids that don't separate when they are
combined.






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