bavardage

Pronounced: bah-vuhr-DAHZ, noun

Notes: There is a similar word – “badinage” – that I thought might be related (but no)

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Yesterday’s word

The word caducity means

• senility
• the quality of being transitory or perishable

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid- to late-1700s

Background / Comments

Our word came to us from the French word caduc (transitory). This word in turn came from the Latin word caducus (tending to fall), which came from the verb cadere (to fall). We get “chance”, “coincidence”, and “cadaver” from this same root verb. Our word, in a general sense, refers to the transitory nature of something. In a specific sense, it referred to the perishable nature of cognitive abilities, and thus can be used as a synonym or senility. Instead of one meaning coming from the other, both meanings showed up at the same time for this word.