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Aug 22, 2019
This week’s themePeople who have become verbs
This week’s words
pythagorize
malaprop
nestorize
dewitt
The De Witt Brothers in Prison (detail)
Art: Simon Opzoomer, 1843
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargdewitt
PRONUNCIATION:
(di-WIT) 
MEANING:
verb tr.: To kill by mob violence.
ETYMOLOGY:
After brothers, Johan and Cornelius De Witt, Dutch statesmen, who were killed by a mob on Aug 20, 1672. Earliest documented use: 1689.
NOTES:
Today’s word has a better-known synonym: lynch. While the word lynch is coined after the perpetrator of such extra-judicial killing (Captain William Lynch), the word dewitt is coined after people who were the object of such violence.
USAGE:
“As Lockhard in his papers says, ‘Had Mr. Campbell himself been in town they had certainly dewitted him.’”
Constance Russell; Three Generations of Fascinating Women; Longmans, Green; 1905.
Constance Russell; Three Generations of Fascinating Women; Longmans, Green; 1905.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
"Do you ever read any of the books you burn?" "That's against the law!" "Oh. Of course." -Ray Bradbury, science-fiction writer (22 Aug 1920-2012) Got a comment? Click here to share it.
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