interpellate

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The Word of the Day for January 31 is:

interpellate   \in-ter-PELL-ayt\   verb
      : to question (as a foreign minister) formally concerning an official 
action or policy or personal conduct

Example sentence:
     At the international tribunal, U.N. officials interpellated the premier 
about his country?s acquisition of illegal weapons.

Did you know?
     "Interpellate" is a word you might encounter in the international news 
section of a newspaper or magazine. It refers to a form of political 
challenging used in the congress or parliament of many nations throughout the 
world, in some cases provided for in the country's constitution. Formal 
interpellation isn't practiced in the U.S. Congress, but in places where it is 
practiced, it can be the first step in ousting an appointed official or 
bringing to task an elected one. The word was borrowed from the Latin term 
"interpellatus," past participle of "interpellare," which means "to interrupt 
or disturb a person speaking." The "interrupt" sense, once used in English, is 
now obsolete, and "interpellate" should not be confused with "interpolate," 
which means "to insert words into a text or conversation."





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