Skip to content

The word for today is…

connive (verb):

Source : Merriam -Webster

Etymology : Connive may not seem like a term that would raise many hackles, but it certainly raised those of Wilson Follett, a usage critic who lamented that the word “was undone during the Second World War, when restless spirits felt the need of a new synonym for plotting, bribing, spying, conspiring, engineering a coup, preparing a secret attack.” Follett thought connive should only mean “to wink at” or “to pretend ignorance.” Those senses are closer to the Latin ancestor of the word: connive comes from the Latin verb connivere, which means “to close the eyes” and which is descended from -nivere, a form akin to the Latin verb nictare, meaning “to wink.” But many English speakers disagreed, and the “conspire” sense is now the word’s most widely used meaning.

If you enjoyed this BFD word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends and, especially, your children.

Latest

Guns and Destiny

Guns and Destiny

What you are witnessing in real time with Brian Tamaki is the further erosion of free speech, and the persecution of a person for his beliefs. What happens when you say something just publicly enough to have the cops turn up at your door? Don’t think it would happen to you? Think again.

Members Public