eleemosynary

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 1, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>eleemosynary</strong> &#149; \el-ih-MAH-suh-nair-ee\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><em>Eleemosynary</em> means "of, relating to, or supported by charity."</p> <p>// She used her inheritance to establish and fund several <em>eleemosynary</em> institutions.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eleemosynary">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"I would not want you to think that Grady Thrasher is not a serious man. ... He is a retired attorney, a prize-winning children's author, a filmmaker, a philanthropist, and the partner, with his wife—artist Kathy Prescott—in various <em>eleemosynary</em> endeavors." — Pete McCommons, <em>Flagpole.com</em> (Athens, Georgia), 2 Nov. 2022</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>A grammarian once asserted in reference to <em>eleemosynary</em> that "a long and learned word like this should only be used under the stress of great need." Whether or not you agree with such prescriptions, the word <em>eleemosynary</em> isn't exactly <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ubiquitous">ubiquitous</a>. Its tricky spelling doesn’t do it any favors—though this wasn’t always the case. The good people of early England had mercy on themselves when it came to spelling and shortened the root of <em>eleemosynary</em>, the Latin <em>eleemosyna</em>, to <em>ælmes</em>, which they used to mean "charity." (You may be more familiar with <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alms"><em>alms</em></a>, an <em>ælmes</em> derivative that refers to food, money, etc., given to the poor.) The original Latin root, however, was resurrected in the early 17th century to give us our modern conundrum of a spelling. </p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>