

Dec 31, 2012 This week's theme

"New" words



This week's words

numismatics

nudiustertian

nouveau pauvre

pneumonic

nugacity



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RSS/XML "New" wordskeeps on giving, all year longIt takes less than a minute. A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg



Time marches on. We cut another notch on the tally stick of time. And a new year begins. In A.Word.A.Day, we'll begin the new year with new words. Well, they aren't really that new as you can see from the dates of their earliest documented use. They just sound new. This week we'll feature five words that begin with the "new" sound. numismatics PRONUNCIATION: (noo-miz-MAT-iks, -mis-, nyoo-)

MEANING: noun: The study or collection of currency: coins, notes, and sometimes similar objects, such as medals.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin numisma (coin, currency), from Greek nomisma (current coin, custom), from nomos (custom). Ultimately from the Indo-European root nem- (to assign or take), which is also the source for words such as number, numb, nomad, metronome, astronomy, nemesis, and anomie . Earliest documented use: 1790. Also see notaphily

USAGE: "Ron Paul was the middle of five boys and the only one to become fascinated with numismatics. He knew that certain pennies were worth more than their face value because few of them had been minted."

Joel Achenbach; The Alternative; The Washington Post; Dec 15, 2011.

See more usage examples of numismatics in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.



A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time. -Chinese proverb





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