Word of the Day

: March 8, 2009

univocal

adjective yoo-NIV-uh-kul

What It Means

1 : having one meaning only

2 : unambiguous

univocal in Context

The president declared that it was important to send a univocal message of support to the beleaguered country.

Did You Know?

"Univocal," in the sense of "having only one meaning," first appeared in print in English in 1599, the same year that its more familiar antonym "equivocal" (meaning "often misleadingly subject to two or more interpretations") was first recorded. Both words trace back to the Latin noun "vox," which means "voice." The prefix "uni-" ("one") was combined with "vox" to create the Late Latin word "univocus," from which English speakers borrowed "univocal." "Univocal" was indeed once used in the sense of "speaking in one voice" (or "unanimous") as its etymology would imply, but that use is now obsolete.