Today's Word "Excruciate"
Published in Vocabulary
excruciate \ek-SKRU-shi-eyt\ (verb) - To inflict severe physical or mental pain on; torture physically or mentally.
"Although I actually swallowed several mouthfuls, every bite of Janice's experimental sushi souffle excruciated my palate to the extent of its endurance."
Latin excrucire "torture" from ex- intensifier + crucire "to crucify, torture," itself derived from crux (cruc-s) "cross." The origin of Latin crux "crucifix" is difficult to trace. The root seems to be related to Irish cruach "hill, pile" and English "(hay)rick," i.e. something rounded. "Excruciate" originally meant to put to the rack, to torture by stretching. Here is another instance of a participle that has all but become an adjective unto itself, abandoning the verb it derives from. The participle, "excruciating," as in "excruciating pain," is used far more often than the verb it is based onunjustly, we think.
Comments