Word of the Day : January 20, 2021

gulosity \goo-LAH-suh-tee\ noun

Definition

: excessive appetite : greediness

Did You Know?

Gulosity is a rare word for "gluttony" that sees only occasional use in English these days. It derives via Middle English and Anglo-French from the Latin adjective gulosus ("gluttonous") and ultimately from the noun gula ("gullet"). It was apparently a favorite word of famed 18th-century author and lexicographer Samuel Johnson, who has been falsely credited with coining gulosity, even though evidence for the word's use dates back to the 15th century. According to his biographer, James Boswell, Johnson was no light eater himself: he "indulged with such intenseness, that while in the act of eating, the veins of his forehead swelled, and generally a strong perspiration was visible."

Aired January 20, 2021

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