Word of the Day

: July 7, 2020

sound

adjective SOWND

What It Means

1 a : free from injury or disease

b : free from flaw, defect, or decay

2 a : solid, firm

b : stable; also : secure, reliable

3 : free from error, fallacy, or misapprehension

4 a : thorough

b : deep and undisturbed

c : hard, severe

5 : showing good judgment or sense

sound in Context

The doctor's statement affirmed that the wealthy man was of sound mind when he decided to bequeath all of his money to the charitable foundation.

"Social distancing, where people are advised to stay at least 6 feet apart, was sound advice when the idea was put forth during the pandemic's early days. It remains sound advice now, and will continue to be sound advice in the days ahead." — The Times, 7 May 2020

Did You Know?

English contains several sound homographs, all with distinct histories. For example, the sound that means "something heard" descends from Latin sonus ("sound"), whereas the sound that means "to measure the depth of water" traces to Middle French sonde ("sounding line"). Another sound, as in "of sound mind and body," is the contemporary form of Old English's gesund. Gesund is related to several words in other languages, such as Old Saxon gisund ("sound"), Old Frisian sund ("fresh, unharmed, healthy"), and Gothic swinths ("sound" or "healthy"). Another relative is Old High German's gisunt ("healthy"), which led to modern German's gesund, the root of gesundheit.