This week's theme: toponyms -- words derived from the names of places. hessian (HESH-uhn) adjective
1. A mercenary soldier or a ruffian. 2. Burlap. [After Hesse, a state in central Germany. Sense 1 derives from the fact that Hessian mercenary served in the British army in America during the American Revolution.] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=hessian -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "If he waits long enough to get into the race, all the usual-suspect-consultants will be booked -- which would be a boon for Mr. Gore, since his hessian strategists in 2000 made him soft-pedal the environment, the very issue that makes him seem most passionate and authentic." Maureen Dowd; Ozone Man Sequel; The New York Times; Feb 28, 2007. Sponsored by: What's Scrabble missing? Tens of thousands of words--all playable in WildWords Board and free Internet version. Amazing game and gift. http://wildwords.us Free! Extra issue of any of Champs-Elysees Audio Magazines in French, German, Italian and Spanish. Subscribe at: http://web.champs-elysees.com/wsmith7 ............................................................................ Unless a good deed is voluntary, it has no moral significance. -Everett Dean Martin, columnist, preacher, and philosopher (1880-1941) Send your comments to (words AT wordsmith.org). To unsubscribe, update address send gift subscription, etc., visit http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/hessian.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/hessian.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/hessian.html This message was sent to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]".
