Word of the Day

: April 8, 2007

longanimity

noun long-guh-NIM-uh-tee

What It Means

: a disposition to bear injuries patiently : forbearance

longanimity in Context

Grandmother bore the trials and tribulations of her life with longanimity.

Did You Know?

"Longanimity" is a word with a long history. It came to English in the 15th century from the Late Latin adjective "longanimis," meaning "patient" or "long-suffering." "Longanimis," in turn, derives from the Latin combination of "longus" ("long") and "animus" ("soul"). "Longus" is related to the ancestors of our word "long" and is itself an ancestor to several other English words, including "longevity" ("long life"), "elongate" ("to make longer"), and "prolong" ("to lengthen in time").