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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 5, 2015 is:
enjoin \in-JOIN\ verb
1 : to direct or impose by authoritative order or with urgent admonition
2 a : forbid, prohibit
b : to prohibit by a judicial order : put an injunction on
Examples:
"And yet, to satisfy this good old man, / I would bend under any heavy weight / That he'll enjoin me to." - William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, 1600
"A federal district judge has preliminarily enjoined the White House from moving forward on its unilateral policy, only further emphasizing that this is a job for Congress." - editorial, Houston Chronicle, February 25, 2015
Did you know?
Which of these words do you think has the same root as enjoin?
a. endorse b. joy c. junta d. purloin
It might help if we tell you that enjoin derives ultimately from the Latin verb jungere, which means "to join." Jungere is behind a number of English words, including join, conjoin, disjoin, and junction. Are you ready for your answer? The correct choice is junta, a term that entered English by way of Spanish. A junta is a committee that controls a government, especially after a revolutionary seizure of power-in other words, a group of persons "joined" together for a specific purpose.
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