Word of the Day

: December 16, 2007

desuetude

noun DESS-wih-tood

What It Means

: discontinuance from use or exercise : disuse

desuetude in Context

The old bridge, which fell into desuetude after the railroad was shut down, has recently been opened as a pedestrian walkway.

Did You Know?

"Desuetude" must be closely related to "disuse," right? Wrong. Despite the similarities between them, "desuetude" and "disuse" derive from two different Latin verbs. "Desuetude" comes from "suescere," a word that means "to accustom" (it also gave us the word "custom"). "Disuse" descends from "uti," which means "to use" (that Latin word also gave us "use" and "utility"). Of the two, "disuse" is now the more common. "Desuetude" hasn't fallen into desuetude yet, and it was put to good use in the past, as in the 17th-century writings of Scottish Quaker Robert Barclay, who wrote, "The weighty Truths of God were neglected, and, as it were, went into Desuetude."