propinquity

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

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🗓️ 27 August 2024

⏱️ 3 minutes

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Summary

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 27, 2024 is:

propinquity • \pruh-PING-kwuh-tee\ • noun

Propinquity is a formal word that typically refers to nearness in place or time, making it a synonym of proximity. It can also be used as a synonym of kinship to refer to the state of being related to others by blood.

// The geographical propinquity of these ancient cultures explains many of the architectural similarities.

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Examples:

“While the King welcomes any sort of contact, technology cannot compensate for the loss of propinquity. The King feels the lack of closeness with his California grandchildren acutely.” — Michael Cole quoted in the Daily Mail (UK), 10 June 2024

Did you know?

Gather near and we will tell you tale of the scions of prope, the Latin word for “near.” Approach approached first: by the 13th century it had made its way to English from prope through Late Latin and Anglo-French forms, with help from a prefix meaning “to, toward.” Propinquity was all about kinship when it entered English in the 14th century via an expansion in Latin of prope to propinquus, meaning “near, akin.” Its general “nearness” meaning developed soon after. Proximity entered the language in the 15th century via French, having been adopted from proximus, a form of prope meaning “nearest.” Hold this trio near if you like, and apply the rather formal propinquity to mean “nearness” or “proximity” when the occasion calls for a bit of formality.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day for August 27th.
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0:41.0	Today's word is propinquity spelled PRO P I N-Q-U-I-T-Y.
0:50.0	Propinquity is a noun.
0:51.5	It's a formal word that typically refers to nearness in place or time,
0:55.8	making it a synonym of the word proximity. It can also be used as a synonym of the word
1:00.4	kinship to refer to the state of being related to others by blood.
1:04.4	Here's the word used in a sentence from the daily male quoting Michael Cole.
1:10.6	While the king welcomes any sort of contact, technology cannot compensate for the loss of
1:15.7	propinquity. The king feels the lack of closeness with his California grandchildren
1:21.2	acutely.
1:22.2	Gather near and will tell you the tale of the science of propae, the Latin word for near.
1:29.0	Approach, approached first. By the 13th century it had made its way to English from
1:34.7	propet through the late Latin and Anglo-French forms with help from a prefix meaning
1:40.6	to or toward. Propinquity was all about kinship when it entered English in the 14th century via an expansion of the
	...

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