Word of the Day

: January 4, 2007

juncture

noun JUNK-cher

What It Means

1 : joint, connection

2 : a point of time; especially : one made critical by a concurrence of circumstances

juncture in Context

"At this juncture in the editing process," said Philip, "it is important that all facts have been double-checked and sources verified."

Did You Know?

"Juncture" has many relatives in English -- and some of them are easy to spot, whereas others are not so obvious. "Juncture" derives from the Latin verb "jungere" ("to join"), which gave us not only "join" and "junction" but also "conjugal" ("relating to marriage") and "junta" ("a group of persons controlling a government"). "Jungere" also has distant etymological connections to "joust," "jugular," "juxtapose," "yoga" and "yoke." The use of "juncture" in English dates back to the 14th century. Originally, the word meant "a place where two or more things are joined," but by the 17th century it could also be used of an important point in time or of a stage in a process or activity.

*Indicates the sense illustrated by the example sentence