quietus : M-W's Word of the Day

****************************************************************
The word's out! Rake in thousands of new words and meanings
with the Eleventh Edition of our Collegiate Dictionary!
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?c11.htm&1
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for November 16 is:

quietus \kwy-EE-tus\ noun
1 : final settlement (as of a debt)
2 : removal from activity; especially : death
*3 : something that quiets or represses

Example sentence:
"The constant rain and the cold have combined to put a quietus on outdoor activities." (Glenn Tucker, quoted in the _Bangor Daily News_ [Maine], Oct. 10, 2005)

Did you know?
In the early 1500s, English speakers adopted the Medieval Latin phrase "quietus est" (literally "he is quit") as the name for the writ of discharge exempting a baron or knight from payment of a knight's fee to the king. The expression was later shortened to "quietus" and applied to the termination of any debt. William Shakespeare was the first to use "quietus" as a metaphor for the termination of life in his tragedy _Hamlet_: "For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, ... When he himself might his quietus make / With a bare bodkin?" The third meaning, which is more influenced by "quiet" than "quit," appeared in the 19th century. It often occurs in the phrase "put the quietus on" (as in our example sentence).

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

You Are Subscribed As: WORDFORTHEDAY.DROP@blogger.com
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://www.startsampling.com/sm/wod/changeofaddress.iphtml

(c) 2005 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

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

*mf mwt 111605 WORDFORTHEDAY.DROP@blogger.com mf*