neophyte

****************************************************************
Do you enjoy challenging word games? Try WORD SWEEP!, the new board game=
 featuring official Merriam-Webster definitions!
http://gifts.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ISBN=3D9780971348769&=
z=3Dy&TYP=3DT
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for October 27, 2007 is:=20

neophyte   \NEE-uh-fyte\   noun
          1 : a new convert : proselyte
     2 : novice
    *3 : tyro, beginner

Example sentence:
          Anna, a skiing neophyte, stayed on the bunny slope while her f=
riends went up the mountain.

Did you know?
          =E2=80=9CNeophyte=E2=80=9D is hardly a new addition to the Eng=
lish language (it=E2=80=99s been part of the English vocabulary since th=
e 1300s), but it wasn=E2=80=99t in general use before the 19th century. =
When it was used in a 16th-century translation of the Bible, some folks =
derided it as pretentious and Latinate. One critic lumped it with other =
=E2=80=9Cridiculous inkhorn terms=E2=80=9D and another went as far as to=
 write, =E2=80=9CNeophyte, to a bare Englishman is nothing at all.=E2=80=
=9D The criticisms of =E2=80=9Cneophyte=E2=80=9D weren=E2=80=99t entirel=
y justified, given the word=E2=80=99s long history in English, but it is=
 true that =E2=80=9Cneophyte=E2=80=9D has classical roots. It traces bac=
k through Late Latin to the Greek =E2=80=9Cneophytes,=E2=80=9D meaning =E2=
=80=9Cnewly planted=E2=80=9D or =E2=80=9Cnewly converted.=E2=80=9D





You Are Subscribed As: [email protected]

To unsubscribe, please click here:
http://www.drhinternet.net/mw/u/966408/568f14b4ab4f050b/N187L6

To 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