Word of the Day

: June 17, 2008

mansuetude

noun MAN-swih-tood

What It Means

: the quality or state of being gentle : meekness, tameness

mansuetude in Context

"While her voice may have an air of mansuetude, she proved that she could easily cut above the din of the boys in her band. . .." (Christopher Muther, The Boston Globe, June 24, 2004)

Did You Know?

"Mansuetude" was first used in English in the 14th century, and it derives from the Latin verb "mansuescere," which means "to tame." "Mansuescere" itself comes from the noun "manus" (meaning "hand") and the verb "suescere" ("to accustom" or "to become accustomed"). Unlike "manus," which has many English descendants (including "manner," "emancipate," and "manicure," among others), "suescere" has only a few English progeny. One of them is a word we featured in December -- "desuetude" -- which means "disuse" and comes to us by way of Latin "desuescere" ("to become unaccustomed"). Two others are "custom" and "accustom," which derive via Anglo-French from Latin "consuescere," meaning "to accustom."