succumb

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The Word of the Day for July 26 is: 

succumb   \suh-KUM\   verb
     1 : to yield to superior strength or force or overpowering appeal or desire 
    *2 : to be brought to an end (as death) by the effect of destructive or disruptive forces

Example sentence:
     Aunt Alice succumbed to a bout of pneumonia at age 89.

Did you know?
     If the idea of someone "succumbing" brings to mind the image of a person lying down before more powerful forces, you have an excellent grasp of the Latin that gave us "succumb." "Succumb" derives from the French word "succomber," which is itself from the Latin word "succumbere," meaning "to fall down" or "to yield." "Succumbere" was formed by combining "sub-," meaning "under," with "-cumbere," meaning "to lie down." The earliest application of "succumb" in the late 15th century was as a transitive verb meaning "to bring down" or "to overwhelm," but this sense is now obsolete. The current sense of "to yield" first appeared in print in 1604; the more specific use -- yielding to a disease or other destructive force -- followed two centuries later.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. 





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