moot

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The Word of the Day for July 21 is: 

moot   \MOOT\   adjective
     1 a : open to question : debatable  b : subjected to discussion : disputed
    *2 : deprived of practical significance : made abstract or purely academic 

Example sentence: 
     Since the team would have lost anyway, it's a moot point whether the 
umpire?s call was right or not.

Did you know? 
     "Moot" derives from "gemot," an Old English name for a judicial court. 
Originally, "moot" named either the court itself or an argument that might be 
debated by one. By the 16th century, the legal role of judicial moots had 
diminished, and the only remnant of them were "moot courts," academic mock 
courts in which law students could try hypothetical cases for practice. Back 
then, "moot" was used as a synonym of "debatable," but because the cases 
students tried in moot courts were simply academic exercises, the word gained 
the second sense, "deprived of practical significance." Some commentators still 
frown on using "moot" to mean "purely academic," but most editors now accept 
both senses as standard.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. 





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