antediluvian

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 12, 2020 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>antediluvian</strong> &#149; \an-tih-dih-LOO-vee-un\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> of or relating to the period before the flood described in the Bible</p> <p><strong>2 a :</strong> made, evolved, or developed a long time ago</p> <p><strong>b :</strong> extremely primitive or outmoded</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"But in the White Mountains grow the oldest trees on Earth, the gnarled <em>antediluvian</em> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bristlecone%20pine">bristlecone pines</a>." — <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/observations/2020/09/search-us-beyond-coronavirus">Nick Burns, <em>The New Statesman</em>, 16 Sept. 2020</a></p> <p>"The Zoom sweater is, after all, the seasonal next wardrobe step after the Zoom shirt…. For some, this may seem liberating: A final declaration of independence from the suit, and proof that after months of dressing for ourselves—and our perch in the corner of the couch—we have been freed from the constrictive suiting of white collar yesteryear (and all the <em>antediluvian</em> fashion rules they represent)." — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/style/work-from-home-clothes.html">Vanessa Friedman, <em>The New York Times</em>, 20 Aug. 2020 </a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Before there was <em>antediluvian</em>, there were the Latin words <em>ante</em> (meaning "before") and <em>diluvium</em> (meaning "flood"). In the 1600s, English speakers were using <em>antediluvian</em> to describe conditions they believed existed before the great flood described in the biblical account of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Noah">Noah</a> and the ark. By the early 1700s, the word had come to be used as both an adjective and a noun referring