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Today's Word "Cacodylic"

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Published in Vocabulary

cacodylic \kae-keh-DI-lik\ (adjective) - 1 : Belonging to the arsenic group of poisons. 2 : Foul-smelling.

"After playing in the yard, Meghan found a cacodylic substance clinging stubbornly to the bottom of her right shoe."

 

Greek kakos "bad, ugly" + od from od-ein "to smell" + yl + ic. Kakos is related to kakka, a common word floating about the Indo-European languages. The English variant begins with "h" and has a diminutive ending. Also the source of "poppycock" (from Dutch pap, possibly from Latin pappa "food" + kak "feces"), not to mention "cacophony" (bad-sounding).


 

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