succor

****************************************************************
Do you enjoy challenging word games? Try WORD SWEEP!, the new board game featuring official Merriam-Webster definitions!
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780971348769&itm=2 
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for June 12 is:

succor   \SUCK-er\   noun
    *1 : relief; also : aid, help 
     2 : something that furnishes relief 

Example sentence:
      "The people lost all hope of succor, and fled to the mountains for refuge." (Mark Twain, _A Tramp Abroad_)

Did you know? 
     If you're in need of an explanation of the origins of "succor," we can help. Middle English speakers adapted "socour," the predecessor of "succor," from the Anglo-French "sucors," which essentially had the same meaning as our modern word. "Sucors," in turn, derives from the Medieval Latin "succursus," itself a derivative of the Latin verb "succurrere," meaning "to run to the rescue" or "to bring aid." That Latin verb was a composite of the prefix "sub-" (meaning "from below") and the verb "currere" (meaning "to run"). "Succor" has been saving the day in English (as both a noun and a verb) since at least the 13th century.  

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. 





You Are Subscribed As: [email protected]
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://mw.drhinternet.net/sm/wod/changeofaddress.iphtml

(c) 2007 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

Merriam-Webster, Inc.
47 Federal Street
P.O. Box 281
Springfield, MA 01102