Word of the Day : July 11, 2018

nimiety \nih-MYE-uh-tee\ noun

Definition

: excess, redundancy

Did You Know?

There's no scarcity of English words for too much of a good thing—words like overkill, plethora, superfluity, surfeit, surplus, and preponderance, to name a few. In fact, you might just feel that nimiety itself is a bit superfluous. And it's true—English speakers have never found much need for it, though it has been part of our language for over 450 years. For reasons long forgot, we borrowed it from Late Latin nimietas, a noun taken, in turn, from the Latin adjective nimius, meaning "excessive." If nimiety appeals to you but you'd like it in adjective form look no further than its only English relative: nimious, also from nimius, means "excessive, extravagant," and is even rarer than nimiety.

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    What is a ruelle?




                                  a pillow for one’s elbow
                                  a week and a day
                                  the space between a bed and the wall
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Aired July 11, 2018

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