It's Merriam Webster's Word of the Day for September 21st.

Today's word is Regimen, spelled R-E-G-I-M-E-N. Regimen is a noun. Regimen refers to a plan

or set of rules about something such as food or exercise, designed to make someone become

or stay healthy. Here's the word used in a sentence from fashionista.com by Janelle Cessoms.

For those with natural hair, taking on a protective hairstyle is more than an expectation. It's

a symbolic right of passage. That said, tucking your hair into a protective style is not an

excuse to completely disregard all hair care practices. If anything, it's the exact opposite.

Establishing an effective hair care regimen is essential to maximizing and maintaining a protective

style, so once it's removed, both the scalp and hair are healthy and happy. Being but humble

lexicographers, we can't say whether an apple a day truly keeps the doctor away, but as far

as regimens go, one could do a lot worse than snacking on a macintosh. The word regimen,

which usually refers to a system of rules or guidelines, often for living a healthy life

or taking a regular dose of exercise, comes ultimately from a Latin verb regare, meaning

to direct. Regare led in apple pie order to the English word regimen, first by way of

the Latin noun regimen, meaning steering or control, and then via the medieval Latin

regimen, referring to a set of rules. Other regare descendants fell further from the tree,

including the words correct, erect, region, rule, and surge. Be sure not to confuse regimen

with another of its kin, regimen, which refers to a military unit, as so doing could upset

the apple cart. With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sakalovsky.

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