Today's Word "Pragmatic"
Published in Vocabulary
pragmatic \praeg-MAE-tik\ (adjective) - 1 : Realistic, relating to facts, causal relations, and action as opposed to speculation, theory, or abstract principles; 2 : a school of philosophy that claims that nothing without real, observable manifestations is relevant to human thought.
"Leon was the sort of pragmatic businessman who based all his decisions solely on the profit line even though his approach was not entirely practical in the small town he lived in, as people expected community involvement from their institutions."
Today's word is more loot from Latin, specifically, the word pragmaticus "skilled in law or business." Latin, in turn, lifted it from Greek pragmatikos "deed, state business." The Greek word comes from pragma(t-) "deed, affair," the noun from prassein, prattein "to pass through, experience, practice" + the adjective suffix -ikos "ic." Today's word is so widely used (and misused) that it has spawned a large family: "pragmatically" is the adverb, "pragmatism" is the abstract noun and "pragmatist" is the agent noun.
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