----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for June 30, 1999
----------------------------------------------------------------------
coin [n., v. KOYN]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A coin is a small piece of metal, usually flat and round, that is
authorized by a government to be used as money. It can also be the
cornerstone of a building, and as a verb, to coin can be to stamp out coins
from a metal sheet or to invent a new word or phrase.
In Latin, a cuneus was a wedge, and from that word came the name of the
wedge-shaped script called cuneiform. The word passed into Old French as
coing, and the meaning broadened to include various wedge-shaped objects,
including the corner stone of a building.
One of the wedge-shaped objects was the die that was used to stamp out
money. Eventually, the pieces of money themselves became known as coins.
Meanwhile the verb sense evolved, and today inventing a new word is coining
it, in the sense that a word is the "currency of communication."
Today's Cool Fact is about coins:
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/06/30.html
Today's sponsor: CDNOW http://www.cdnow.com/from=med:y:tfs:sint:t0086
$10 off for new customers at CDNOW, Listen to sound samples before you
buy, read reviews and discover new music based on your tastes. With
five times the selection of a conventional music store, personal
recommendations and more-CDNOW. Your music. Your Store.
http://www.cdnow.com/from=med:y:tfs:sint:t0086
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cool Word of the Day list membership: 111,312
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To send a free gift subscription: http://www.tlk-lists.com/giftsub/
Subscribing, unsubscribing, address changes:
Existing subscribers: http://www.tlk-lists.com/change/
To join as a new subscriber: http://www.tlk-lists.com/join/
To become a sponsor: http://www.tlk-lists.com/sponsor/
Feedback: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 1999, The Learning Kingdom, Inc.
http://www.LearningKingdom.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
