deem

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 24, 2022 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>deem</strong> &#149; \DEEM\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><em>Deem</em> means "to come to think or judge," "to consider," or "to have an opinion."</p> <p>// The covered bridge was closed to automobile traffic for the winter because town officials <em>deemed</em> it a hazard to motorists.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deem">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"As much as Auburn's Planning Board and mayor would like to wave a magic scepter over swaths of city property and <em>deem</em> them a new zone, it can’t be done that easily." — Pam Larouche, <em>The Sun Journal</em> (Lewiston, Maine), 25 Feb. 2022</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Originally, <em>deem</em> meant "to legally condemn." The word is still frequently used in contexts pertaining to the law but with the general meaning "to judge" or "to decide after inquiry and deliberation," as in "The act was deemed unlawful" or "The defendant is deemed to have agreed to the contract." Outside of the law, <em>deem</em> usually means simply "to consider."</p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>