Pronounced: KON-truh-fak-tuhm, noun
Notes: I incorrectly thought it was something against the facts
Yesterday’s word
The word catchpole means “a sheriff’s deputy – especially one who makes an arrest for failure to pay a debt”
First usage
Our word came into English before the mid-1000s
Background / Comments
Our word came from the Middle English word caccepol, which came from Old English caecephol, which came from Medieval Latin cachepollus (tax-collector – literally a chicken-chaser). You can imagine that chasing down someone who owes you money is as difficult as trying to catch a chicken in a barnyard. Matthew – the disciple – was originally a catchpole (in the language of the day) before he became a follower of Jesus Christ.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 