natant

Pronounced: NAY-t(uh)nt, adj

Notes: Another word that I guessed incorrectly (very much so!)

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Yesterday’s word

The word pathography is “a biography that focuses on the negative”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

I tried to be smart when trying to figure out what our word meant: I know that “pathology” is the study of diseases, so I figured that our word was a book about diseases. I was right about the origins of our word; it came from the Greek word patho- (suffering; disease) combined with -graphy (writing). It turns out that originally, the word referred to a description of a disease. Over time it changed to mean the study of an individual or a community as relating to the influence of a disease. With more time and change, it has (mostly) assumed our present meaning.