# word

Pronunciation: say "WURD" US /wɜɹd/, UK /wɜːd/

## Noun

1. A single distinct unit of language, spoken or written, that has a meaning and can stand on its own, especially one accepted as part of a language rather than a made-up non-word.
   - Simple: One unit of language with a meaning, like 'cat' or 'run', that you can say or write.
   - _The contest limited each essay to five hundred words._
   - _She circled each misspelled word on the page in red ink._
2. Something that someone said; a remark, utterance, or speech.
   - Simple: Something a person says, like a remark or comment.
   - _He never said a word about the accident to anyone in the family._
   - _In the words of my grandfather, slow and steady wins every time._
3. News; tidings or information about recent events.
   - Simple: News about someone or something.
   - _Word of the merger spread through the office before the official announcement._
   - _The family waited three days for word from the rescue team._
4. A promise or assurance, either that something will be done or that what one says is true, as in give your word or take someone's word for it.
   - Simple: A serious promise that you will do something, or that what you say is true.
   - _She kept her word and returned the car by Friday._
   - _The senator gave his word that the relief funds would reach the schools._
5. In the plural, the text set to a piece of music, such as song lyrics or a libretto, or the lines spoken by a performer.
   - Simple: The text of a song or other music, or the lines an actor or performer says.
   - _She wrote the music, and her brother wrote the words._
   - _The understudy had only two days to learn her words before opening night._
6. What God has communicated; the gospel message of Christianity; or the Bible, regarded as Scripture.
   - Simple: God's message to people, especially the Bible and its teachings.
   - _The congregation gathered each Sunday to hear the word preached._
   - _He carried a worn Bible everywhere, determined to spread the word of God._
8. The fact or act of speaking, as contrasted with taking action.
   - Simple: What you say, compared with what you do, as in 'in word and deed'.
   - _The committee supported the reform in word but not in deed._
   - _My roommate is helpful in word only; when it's time to do the dishes, he disappears._
9. A brief conversation, often private, sometimes to give a mild warning or reprimand ('Can I have a word?').
   - Simple: A short talk with someone, sometimes to tell them off gently.
   - _The director asked for a word with the new hire before the meeting._
   - _Before signing, she had a brief word with her lawyer in the hallway._
10. A command, request, or instruction; a statement of what someone wants done.
   - Simple: An order or instruction that tells people what to do.
   - _Just say the word, and the movers will begin loading the truck._
   - _The troops held their positions until the general gave the word to advance._
12. A sequence of letters, characters, or sounds considered as a single unit, even if it belongs to no language or carries no meaning.
   - Simple: A group of letters or sounds treated as one unit, even if it has no meaning.
   - _The experiment asked volunteers to memorize invented words like 'taspo' and 'mivven.'_
   - _Each access code is a pronounceable but meaningless word, like 'vorbet', generated at random by the software._
13. An exchange of angry remarks; an argument. Used only in the plural, as in 'have words'.
   - Simple: Angry talk between people who are upset with each other.
   - _They had words over the inheritance and never fully reconciled._
   - _The two drivers exchanged words at the intersection before pulling away._
14. In Christian theology, Christ as the Logos, the eternal divine expression of God; usually capitalized.
   - Simple: In Christian teaching, a name for Jesus Christ as God's living message to the world.
   - _John's Gospel opens by presenting the Word as existing before all creation._
   - _Medieval theologians debated how the Word could be at once fully divine and fully human._
15. In computing, a fixed-size group of bits handled by a processor as a unit, typically the size of a register; in Intel and Windows programming, conventionally exactly 16 bits.
   - Simple: In computers, a fixed number of bits that the processor handles together as one unit.
   - _On a 64-bit processor, each word holds eight bytes of data._
   - _The compiler aligns data on word boundaries for faster memory access._
18. In mathematics and computing, a finite sequence of symbols from a given set, such as a product of group generators.
   - Simple: In math and computing, a string of symbols treated as one item.
   - _The automaton accepts a word only if it ends in the same symbol it began with._
   - _Concatenating two words over the alphabet {0, 1} yields another word._
19. A unit of text length equal to five characters plus one space, used to measure transmission speed and message length in telegraphy.
   - Simple: In sending messages by telegraph, a unit of text counted as five letters plus one space.
   - _Amateur radio licenses once required copying Morse code at thirteen words per minute._
   - _For timing Morse operators, PARIS serves as the standard word: five letters plus the space after it._

## Verb

7. To choose and arrange the language used to express something.
   - Simple: To choose the way you say or write something.
   - _The lawyer worded the contract to protect both sides equally._
   - _Think about how you word a survey question; small changes can shift the answers._

## Interjection

11. Slang reply expressing agreement, approval, or acknowledgment of what someone has said; truth, indeed. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Slang for 'I agree' or 'that's true', said in reply to someone.
   - _"Nobody works harder than your mom does." "Word."_
   - _Word, that game last night was unbelievable._

## Noun

16. A proverb or motto; a brief saying taken as a guide to conduct. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A short saying or motto that expresses a piece of wisdom.

## Verb

17. To ply or overpower someone with words; to wear a person down by sheer volume of talk. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To overwhelm someone with so much talk that they give in.
20. To speak or use words; to converse or hold discourse with another. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To speak or talk with someone, or to have a conversation.
21. To flatter or cajole someone with words; to coax through smooth talk. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To use sweet talk to get what you want from someone.
22. To conjure or call something into existence by speaking a word. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To make something happen or appear by saying a special word.
   - _In the novel, the enchanters word entire palaces into being._
   - _In the old legend, the sorceress spoke to the barren hillside and worded a spring into being._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A watchword or rallying cry; a verbal signal agreed on in advance, even when it consists of several words.

## Origin

Old English word kept its spelling in Middle English. It goes back through Proto-West Germanic *word and Proto-Germanic *wurdą to Proto-Indo-European *wr̥dʰh₁om. The words "verb" and "verve" are doublets of it, and "vrata" is a more distant relative.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/word (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).