Word of the Day

: September 15, 2009

sternutation

noun ster-nyuh-TAY-shun

What It Means

: the act, fact, or noise of sneezing

sternutation in Context

Julie knew that she had put on too much perfume when she entered the car and immediately heard a chorus of sternutation from the passengers.

Did You Know?

"Sternutation" comes from Latin and is a descendant of the verb "sternuere," meaning "to sneeze." One of the earliest known English uses occurred in a 16th-century edition of a book on midwifery, in a passage about infants suffering from frequent "sternutation and sneesynge." The term has long been used in serious medical contexts, but also on occasion for humorous effect. In 1850, for example, author Grace Greenwood observed that U.S. senators from opposing political parties would often come together to share snuff: "And all three forget their sectional differences in a delightful concert of sternutation. No business is too grave, no speaker too eloquent, to be 'sneezed at.'"