endogenous

Pronounced: en-DOJ-uh-nuhs, adj

Notes: As is usual here, this is another word I didn’t know

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Yesterday’s word

The word valediction means “the formal act of announcing one’s departure, one’s leave-taking, or bidding farewell”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background

Well, the word looks like valedictorian, which we call the student that graduates at the top of his class — usually high-school class (he usually has to give a speech). But the meaning doesn’t appear to be related, although it is, in a roundabout kind of way: our word comes from the Latin word valedictiōn, composed of vale (farewell) and dictus (to say). The tie-in with valedictorian is that it was originally the speech given at graduation saying a farewell to the school and teachers. The one who was chosen to give it was the best student in the class, and the word shifted to mean that person.