evergreen: M-W's Word of the Day

****************************************************************
Happy New Edition! Ring in the New Year with
Merriam-Webster's Crossword Puzzle Dictionary, Third Edition.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?croswrdpk.htm&3
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for December 28 is:

evergreen \EV-er-green\ adj
1 : having foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season
*2 : retaining freshness or interest : perennial

Example sentence:
Every Christmas season, we go to see Tchaikovsky's evergreen Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker.

Did you know?
Which adjective do you think has existed longer in English, "evergreen" or "perennial"? If you count the hyphenated form "ever-green" (which of course meant "always green"), then "evergreen" is older; its earliest known use dates from 1555. If you are a purist and insist on the hyphen-free form, 1671 is the earliest known adjectival use of "evergreen" (although the noun "evergreen," meaning "conifer," has been in use since at least 1644). The first English text known to use "perennial" as an adjective meaning "remaining green all year long" was published in 1644. But "perennial" wins in the more general "long lasting" sense; it has been used with that enduring meaning since the early 1700s. "Evergreen" did not appear in English texts in that sense until the 1800s.

*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 122805 WORDFORTHEDAY.DROP@blogger.com mf*