Word of the Day

: April 10, 2015

juncture

noun JUNK-cher

What It Means

1 : joint, connection

2 : a point of time; especially : one made critical by a concurrence of circumstances

juncture in Context

"At this juncture in the editing process," said Philip, "it is important that all facts have been double-checked and sources verified."

"Obasohan's absence came at a critical juncture when the game got away from the Crimson Tide...." - Kevin Scarbinsky, AL.com, March 3, 2015

Did You Know?

Juncture has many relatives in English-and some of them are easy to spot, whereas others are not so obvious. Juncture derives from the Latin verb jungere ("to join"), which gave us not only join and junction but also conjugal ("relating to marriage") and junta ("a group of persons controlling a government"). Jungere also has distant etymological connections to joust, jugular, juxtapose, yoga, and yoke. The use of juncture in English dates back to the 14th century. Originally, the word meant "a place where two or more things are joined," but by the 17th century it could also be used of an important point in time or of a stage in a process or activity.