mettle

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 4, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>mettle</strong> &#149; \MET-ul\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><em>Mettle</em> refers to the ability to continue in spite of difficulties.</p> <p>// The contestants proved their <em>mettle</em> by completing the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/triathlon">triathlon</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mettle">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"Recently, 23 of Watauga's best math students met virtually to test their <em>mettle</em> against their peers in the annual MathCounts competition—a contest that tasks young mathematicians to tackle challenging math problems in a timed tournament format." — <em>The Blowing Rocket</em> (Blowing Rock, North Carolina), 22 Apr. 2021</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Originally, <em>mettle</em> was simply a variant spelling of the word <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metal">metal</a></em> (which dates to at least the 13th century), and it was used in all of the same senses as its metallic relative. Over time, however, <em>mettle</em> came to be used mainly in figurative senses referring to the quality of someone's character. It eventually became a distinct English word in its own right, losing its literal sense altogether. <em>Metal</em> remained a term primarily used for those hard, shiny substances such as steel or iron, but it also acquired a figurative use. Today, both words can mean "vigor and strength of spirit or temperament," but only <em>metal</em> is used of metallic substances.</p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>