Word of the Day

: October 12, 2008

divulge

verb duh-VULJ

What It Means

: to make known (as a confidence or secret)

divulge in Context

Sarah promised not to divulge the news of her friend's promotion until it was official.

Did You Know?

It isn't vulgar to make known the roots of "divulge" -- and that sentence contains two hints about the word's origin. "Divulge" was borrowed into Middle English in the 15th century from Latin "divulgare," a word that combines the prefix "dis-," which meant "apart" or "in different directions" in Latin, with "vulgare," meaning "to make known." "Vulgare," in turn, derives from the Latin noun "vulgus," meaning "mob” or “common people." As you have no doubt guessed, English "vulgar" is another word which can be traced back to "vulgus”; it came into use about a century before "divulge.”