agendum
- 1A task that ought to be done; a matter calling for action.
The committee added one more agendum to an already crowded schedule.
She tackled the hardest agendum first thing each morning.
Note
The obligation is built into the word itself. Latin agendum comes from a gerundive meaning "which ought to be done," from agō, "I do, act, make." Two plurals exist side by side: the Latin agenda and the anglicized agendums. Because the singular is now uncommon, choosing agendum for one item of business sounds deliberate and a little learned.
- 2A practical duty, something requiring action rather than an article of faith.
In their theology, charity is an agendum, demanding action rather than mere assent.
The reformers treated social justice as an agendum binding on every congregation.
Similarduty, obligation
Note
Theology uses the word to sort religion into two kinds of claim: what must be believed and what must be done. An agendum falls on the second side, as charity practiced or justice pursued, set against an article of faith held in the mind. The Latin sense of obligation behind the general "task" meaning gives this use its force: the duty is binding, not optional.
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Origin
From Latin agendum, the noun use of the neuter singular of agendus ('which ought to be done'), the future passive participle (gerundive) of agō ('I do, act, make').