Pronounced: MON-duhr, verb
Notes: I had an interesting experience when I saw this word
Yesterday’s word
The word anneal means
- to make (something, like glass or steel) less brittle by heating and then cooling
- strengthen; toughen
First usage
An old word; it came into usage in English before 1000
Background / Comments
Our word has an interesting history; it was associated with the an early discovery — fire. It came from the Old English word onœlan, which came from the root āl (fire). Originally, the word simply meant “to set on fire”. That meaning is obsolete. These days, our word is often found in DNA research.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 