gravitate

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 13, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>gravitate</strong> &#149; \GRAV-uh-tayt\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p>To gravitate is to move, tend to move, or be attracted to or toward someone or something.</p> <p>// Many young people now <em>gravitate</em> toward careers on social media.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gravitate">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“... Olipop has grown into a nationwide brand and favorite among Gen Z and millennial consumers, who <em>gravitate</em> to the brand’s eye-catching packaging and nostalgia-inducing flavors like root beer and vintage cola—many of which [CEO, Ben] Goodwin comes up with in the early hours of the morning.” — Morgan Smith and Lauren Shamo, <em>CNBC</em>, 16 Sept. 2023</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>The force is strong in the family of words descended from the Latin adjective <em>gravis</em>, meaning “heavy”: <a href="/dictionary/gravitation"><em>gravitation</em></a> has it, <a href="/dictionary/graviton"><em>graviton</em></a> has it, and <em>gravitate</em> has it, too. That force is gravity (<a href="/dictionary/gravity"><em>gravity</em></a> being another <em>gravis</em> descendent), a fundamental physical force that is responsible for bringing us literally back down to earth (or Tattooine, as it were). But you don’t have to be a full-fledged linguistic <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Jedi">Jedi</a>, young <a href="/dictionary/padawan">padawan</a>, to know that <em>gravity</em>, like its Latin ancestor, also has figurative meanings, as does <em>gravitate</em>. When it first landed in the 17th century, <em>gravitate</em> meant “to apply pressure or weight,” and later it maintained its connection to literal gravity with a sense (still in use today) meaning “to move und