[Loch-Ruadh] word for the day

Jane Sitton jane.sitton at radioshack.com
Wed Aug 14 10:24:11 PDT 2002


Your daily vocabulary lesson: perpend * \per-PEND\ * (verb) 1 : to reflect
on carefully : ponder *2 : to be attentive : reflect
Example sentence: Perpend: if you let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
slip away, you will regret it.
Did you know? "Perpend" isn't used often these days, but when it does show
up it is frequently imperative, as in our example sentence.  As such, its
use can be compared to the phrase "mark my words."  "Perpend" arrived in
English in the 15th century from the Latin verb "perpendere," which in turn
comes from "pendere," meaning "to weigh."  Appropriately, our English word
essentially means "to weigh carefully in the mind."  "Pendere" has several
descendants in English, including "append," "compendium," "expend," and
"suspend."  "Perpend" can also be a noun meaning "a brick or large stone
reaching through a wall" or "a wall built of such stones," but that
"perpend" comes from a Middle French source and is unrelated to the verb.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.



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