Wednesday, January 13, 2010

WORD OF THE DAY

This week's word is phthisic from Little, Big by John Crowley, page 24.


phthisis is a noun meaning any wasting disease, as tuberculosis of the lungs.

phthisic
the adjective form of the word.

The word comes from Latin which came from Greek, meaning a decay, which came from phthiein, meaning to waste away.

(From Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition)

My sentence: His phthisic appearance made me think that he had not much longer to live.

What is your sentence?

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:36 AM

    My sentence from patient to doctor:
    "How dare you tell me that I'm phthisic!"

    From A to Z

    PS: Now that we know what it means, tell us how to pronounce the word!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear A to Z,
    Thanks for your sentence.
    You have a good point: it can be pronounced ti-sis or thi-sis.
    Question: Do you pronounce words in your head when you read them? For some reason, even though I have taught phonics, I hardly ever do.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oops. I used the pronunciation for the noun. So it would be ti-sic or thi-sic.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7:31 PM

    Yes, I pronounce words in my head when reading them. And - - mispronounce them!

    From A to Z

    ReplyDelete