Pronounced: ZEE-nee-uhl, adj
Notes: I had a few guesses, but none of them were quite right
Yesterday’s word
The word peformative means “relating to a statement that functions as an action by the fact of its being uttered”
First usage
Our word came into English in the 1920s
Background / Comments
If the definition above is not clear, think of the phrase “I apologize” – the very fact of saying it means that you are apologizing. “I resign” is another performative utterance. Our word came from the Old French word parfournir, which is composed from par (through) and fournir (to furnish).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 