candidate

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 3, 2020 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>candidate</strong> &#149; \KAN-duh-dayt\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><strong>1 a :</strong> one that aspires to or is nominated or qualified for an office, membership, or award</p> <p><strong>b :</strong> one likely or suited to undergo or be chosen for something specified</p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> a student in the process of meeting final requirements for a degree</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"But there are nine vaccine <em>candidates</em> around the world that have reached phase III trials, the large, final stage of testing that usually comes before regulatory approval. It is likely that not all of them will reach the clinic." — <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0262407920316183">Clare Wilson, <em>The New Scientist</em>, 19 Sept. 2020</a></p> <p>"No modern presidential election has been decided by campaign spending. That is because both <em>candidates</em> always have enough cash to achieve the single main point of it: near-universal name recognition among voters in the dozen or fewer swing states that determine the outcome." — <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2020/09/19/reports-that-the-presidents-campaign-faces-a-crisis-are-exaggerated"><em>The Economist</em>, 19 Sept. 2020</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>When a man running for public office in ancient Rome greeted voters in the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forum">Forum</a>, the center of judicial and public business, he wore a toga that had been whitened with chalk. As a result, the Latin word for someone seeking office came to be <em>candidatus</em>, meaning literally "clothed in white." <em>Candidatus</em>, in turn, comes from the adjective <em>candidus</em>, meaning "white." <em>Candidatus</em> was adopt