edifying
improving your mind
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Does Kids' TV Have to Be EDIFYING?
(New York Times article headline)
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Like making sausages, innovation is not always an EDIFYING thing to watch.
(The Guardian)
(New York Times article headline)
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Like making sausages, innovation is not always an EDIFYING thing to watch.
(The Guardian)
Did you
know?
edify
verb
- to instruct especially so as to encourage intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement
edifying
adjective
- serving to educate or inform
(American Heritage Dictionary)
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Edify is a mid 14th century term that literally meant "to build, construct." It derived from the Old French "difier" (to build, install, teach, instruct) and ultimately from the Latin "aedificare," which also meant to build or construct and in Late Latin to improve one's mind spiritually.
A good way to remember what the verb edify means is to think about the noun "edifice," which is a synonym for a building, especially one that is large and impressive. To be stable, large buildings require a robust foundation. Likewise, a solid mind also requires a solid foundation of knowledge, thus to edify means to educate, inform or enlighten.
If something edifies, it acts like a building (there's that word again) block to improve one's intellect or skills.
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SYNONYMS
educate, enlighten, improve, instruct, teach, uplift
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"College should be edifying as well as fun."
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Thanks to Joachim for suggesting today's word!
verb
- to instruct especially so as to encourage intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement
edifying
adjective
- serving to educate or inform
(American Heritage Dictionary)
---
Edify is a mid 14th century term that literally meant "to build, construct." It derived from the Old French "difier" (to build, install, teach, instruct) and ultimately from the Latin "aedificare," which also meant to build or construct and in Late Latin to improve one's mind spiritually.
A good way to remember what the verb edify means is to think about the noun "edifice," which is a synonym for a building, especially one that is large and impressive. To be stable, large buildings require a robust foundation. Likewise, a solid mind also requires a solid foundation of knowledge, thus to edify means to educate, inform or enlighten.
If something edifies, it acts like a building (there's that word again) block to improve one's intellect or skills.
---
SYNONYMS
educate, enlighten, improve, instruct, teach, uplift
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"College should be edifying as well as fun."
---
Thanks to Joachim for suggesting today's word!
