vade mecum | Word of the Day

April 07, 2019 vade mecum [vey-dee mee-kuhm, vah-] noun, 1. something a person carries about for frequent or regular use. arts-entertainment The Biggest Mistakes In Songs We Love To Sing ways-to-say What Do All Of These Different Heart Emoji Mean? WORD OF THE DAY vade mecum continued... QUOTES ... the complete poem, though subjected to repeated prosecutions, made its way in pirated editions and became a vade mecum among the radicals. -- Samuel C. Chew and Richard D. Altick, A Literary History of England, 2nd ed., Vol. 4, The Nineteenth Century and After, 1967 ORIGIN A vade mecum in English is something, especially a book or manual, that a person carries about for consulting. The English phrase comes from the Latin phrase vāde mēcum "go with me." The first word, vāde, is the second person singular imperative of vādere "to go, advance, proceed," from the same Proto-Indo-European root wadh- "to go" as the Germanic (English) wade. Mēcum "with me," and its kindred forms tēcum "with thee," nōbiscum "with us," and vōbiscum "with you," are relics or fossils in Latin of an earlier stage in the language when "prepositions" (elements that precede the words governed) were "postpositions" (the elements followed the words governed). During imperial times, the anomalous mēcum and tēcum were strengthened, reinforced by the "regular" preposition cum, yielding cum mēcum and cum tēcum, which persist in modern Spanish as conmigo and contigo. Vade mecum entered English in the 17th century. MORE FOR YOU 1 Decoding The Alt-Right Like any insular group of people (think bronies), the alt-right has its own lingo that can be confusing to anyone not affiliated. And, although we don't want to legitimize some of the actions done by extreme self-proclaimed members of this group, it is important to be knowledgable about the language surrounding different viewpoints and opinions within our society. 2 These Words Can Be Real Debbie Downers Some words, like instant, are great on their own, but when you slap them in front of other words, they make them sounds less credible or desirable. We're calling them Debbie Downer words, because Debbie really knows how to ruin a party. 3 Dissent vs. Protest: Why Choosing The Right Word Matters It seems political conflict in the 2010s has put the words dissent and protest at the center of our vocabulary. But are we using them correctly? 4 Holy Halidom, Here's This Week's Quiz Brace yourself for this week's behemoth Word of the Day Quiz. | February 18 – 24, 2019 5 How Does Adding The Word "Possible" Change News What is a possible hate crime? A possible sexual assault? A possible terrorist attack? © 2018 Dictionary.com, LLC. ABOUT CONTACT You are subscribed to the Word of the Day as: matzom229@gmail.com Subscriber since: September 06, 2017 Unsubscribe Dictionary.com, LLC. 555 12th Street Suite 500 Oakland CA 94607 Manage your subscription Terms & Privacy