alacrity

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 30, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>alacrity</strong> &#149; \uh-LAK-ruh-tee\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><strong>:</strong> promptness in response <strong>:</strong> cheerful readiness</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but <em>alacrity</em> in his heart. And while the late steamer Big Missouri worked and sweated in the sun, the retired artist sat on a barrel in the shade close by, dangled his legs, munched his apple...." — <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7193/7193-h/7193-h.htm">Mark Twain, <em>The Adventures of Tom Sawyer</em>, 1876</a></p> <p>"The <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barred%20owl">Barred Owl</a> will quietly sit on a branch until some unsuspecting victim passes by, and then silently and with <em>alacrity</em>, this owl will swoop down for the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coup%20de%20gr%C3%A2ce">coup de grâce</a>." — <a href="https://www.djournal.com/lifestyle/living/earth-lady-love-is-in-the-air-for-barred-owls/article_b1f402da-620d-5c8e-a9d3-914657989d22.html">Ginna Parsons, <em>The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal</em> (Tupelo, Mississippi), 14 Feb. 2021</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>"I have not that alacrity of spirit / Nor cheer of mind that I was wont to have," says William Shakespeare's King Richard III in the play that bears his name. <em>Alacrity</em> derives from the Latin word <em>alacer</em>, meaning "lively" or "eager." It denotes physical quickness coupled with eagerness or enthusiasm. Are there any other words in English from Latin <em>alacer</em>? Yes—<em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allegro">allegro</a></em>, which is used as a direction in music with the meaning "at a brisk lively tempo.” It came to English via Itali