A.Word.A.Day--wrangler

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Jun 28, 2019

This week’s theme
Words originating in horses

This week’s words
hippodrome
horse race
chivalry
warhorse
wrangler

Leo/Jackie the Lion (MGM)

Photo: Wikimedia

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

wrangler

PRONUNCIATION:

(RANG-luhr)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A cowboy who takes care of horses.
2. A person who engages in debates, quarrels, or disputes.
3. A person who handles animals, puppets, babies, unruly humans, etc., especially on a film set.

ETYMOLOGY:

Probably partial translation of Mexican Spanish caballerango (groom or stable boy), from caballo (horse), from Latin caballus (horse). Ultimately from Indo-European root wer- (to turn or bend), which also gave us wring, weird, writhe, worth, revert, universe, conversazione, divers, malversation, prosaic, versal, verso, and wroth. Earliest documented use: 1518.

USAGE:

“Whether Mr. Ryan would be a wrangler of House conservatives ... is a subject of much debate.”
Gabriel Trip; Ryan, Quiet for Now, Is Said to Be Planning for an Active Role; The New York Times; Nov 4, 2012.

See more usage examples of wrangler in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The happiest is the person who suffers the least pain; the most miserable who enjoys the least pleasure. -Jean-Jacques Rousseau, philosopher and author (28 Jun 1712-1778)

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