Pronounced: SEK-till, adj
Notes: Another useful word, but I was unaware of it
Yesterday’s word
The word parergon means
- an accessory, embellishment, or byproduct of a main work
- subsidiary work undertaken in addition to one’s main employment
First usage
Our word goes back a long way to the early 1600s
Background / Comments
In the software world, sometimes software engineers, wanting to be helpful, would create useful tools. This is a good example of a parergon. The drawback to this practice is that these hastily-written tools would get added to the official repertoire of software and have to be maintained as well. Our word comes from the Greek words para- (beside) and ergon (work).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 