WORD OF THE DAY FOR SEPTEMBER 20

The Word of the Day for September 20 is:

misbegotten • \miss-bih-GAH-tun\ • adjective

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?misbeg01.wav=misbegotten


1 : unlawfully conceived : illegitimate*
2 : having a disreputable or improper origin
3 : contemptible, deformed


Example sentence:"I think I've disproven that misbegotten notion that blondes aren't smart," said Susan of her perfect grade point average.


Did you know?In the beginning, there was "bigietan," and "bigietan" begot "beyeten," and in the days of Middle English "beyeten" begot "begeten," and from thence sprung "misbegotten." That's a bit flowery, but it accurately traces the path that led to "misbegotten." All of the Old English and Middle English ancestors listed above basically mean the same thing as the modern "beget," that is, "to father" or "to produce as an effect or outgrowth." That linguistic line brought forth "misbegotten" by adding the prefix "mis-" (meaning "wrong," "bad," or "not") in the mid-1500s.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.