exordium

Pronounced: ig-ZOR-dee-uhm (alt 1: eg-ZOR-dee-uym; alt 2: ik-SOR-dee-uhm), noun

Notes: Another new word to me

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Yesterday’s word

The word atoll is “a coral island consisting of a reef surrounded by a lagoon”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I have heard of the nuclear test site, the Bikini Atoll, but I didn’t know the actual definition. Our word traces to the Maldives (a group of over 1,000 coral islands in the Indian Ocean). Many islands are atolls, and our word can be traced to the Dhivehi (the official language of the Maldives) word for that kind of island. It is said that the average height of an atoll is about six feet.