Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year 2005
1. integrity
Pronunciation: in-'te-gr&-tE
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English integrite, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French integrité, from Latin integritat-, integritas, from integr-, integer entire
1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : INCORRUPTIBILITY
2 : an unimpaired condition : SOUNDNESS
3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : COMPLETENESS
synonym see HONESTY
And the runner-up words are:Pronunciation: in-'te-gr&-tE
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English integrite, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French integrité, from Latin integritat-, integritas, from integr-, integer entire
1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : INCORRUPTIBILITY
2 : an unimpaired condition : SOUNDNESS
3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : COMPLETENESS
synonym see HONESTY
2. refugee
3. contempt
4. filibuster
5. insipid
6. tsunami
7. pandemic
8. conclave
9. levee
10. inept
I think they base this on the number of times a search was done for the words last year. Very interesting that integrity should come out on top, given all that happened last year by way political scandal and doubt in the US. Tsunami, conclave and levee are all easy gueses to figure out what made those popular key words (2004's asian tsunami, the death of Pope John Paul and Hurricane Katrina hittings New Orleans)... maybe 'inept' was for the ex-FEMA head?
So what was the word for 2004 you might be wondering? That's simple enough, it was: BLOG :-)
Source: http://www.m-w.com/info/05words.htm
- Mood: refreshed after a nap
- Music: traffic sounds from the street
3 comments:
Would have thought that refugee would be the word of the year after the Katrina survivors insisted that they werent refugees
Yeah, that's an interesting point Jdid. Kind of makes you wish there was some context associated with this tally.
My word for the year is Integra! Drop some money in the collection plate nuh? ;-)
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