ruly: M-W's Word of the Day

****************************************************************
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=9780971348769&z=y&TYP=T
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for September 4 is:

ruly \ROO-lee\ adjective
: obedient, orderly

Example sentence:
Concert organizers worried that rambunctious fans might get out of hand, but the crowd was surprisingly ruly.

Did you know?
You're probably familiar with "unruly," meaning "not readily controlled or disciplined." Have you ever wondered, "Is there a 'ruly' too?" If so, did it seem to you that such a word should exist? A little over 150 years ago, someone apparently followed that same thought process, creating "ruly" by dropping the prefix from "unruly." Whoever did so probably thought the coinage was a new one, but that's not quite the case. There had once been another "ruly" with much the same meaning as the modern term, but it had been out of use for over 200 years. Ultimately, "ruly" and "unruly" come from "reuly," a Middle English word meaning "disciplined." "Reuly" in turn comes from Middle English "reule," a predecessor of "rule."

You Are Subscribed As: silentdewdrops.word@blogger.com

To unsubscribe, please click here:
http://www.drhinternet.net/mw/u/982089/568f14b4ab4f050b/N17L6

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