Pronounced: no-EE-sis, noun
Notes: I don’t know this word
Yesterday’s word
The word friable means “easily crumbled or pulverized”
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
Background / Comments
Our word came into English either from Middle French or from the Latin adjective friabilis, which came from the verb friare (to crumble), which is related to the verb fricare (to rub) (and the word from which we get “friction”). Our word often crops up when discussion asbestos — the “bad” kind is “friable” asbestos, because it is easily crumbled into tiny fibers, which can float in the air and be inhaled.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 