Pronounced: ZEE-dongk (alt: ZEE-duhngk), noun
Notes: Just seeing the word, I had no idea; looking at the definition, I feel kind of stupid; maybe you know it or figured it out
Yesterday’s word
The word gnathonic means “sycophantic”
First usage
Our word appeared in English in the mid-1600s
Background / Comments
Our word comes from Gnatho, a sycophant in the comedy Eunuchus, written by Terence, a Roman playwright about 160 BC. (If you don’t know what a sycophant is, it is a self-serving, servile flatterer.) The name Gnatho comes from the Greek word gnathos (jaw). Incidentally, the character that Gnatho is flattering is called Thraso, from which we get our word thasoncial (boastful; vainglorious).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 