Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
DIPHTHONGIZE
diphthongize, diphthongise
(verb) change from a simple vowel to a diphthong; “This vowel diphthongized in Germanic”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
diphthongize (third-person singular simple present diphthongizes, present participle diphthongizing, simple past and past participle diphthongized)
(transitive, phonetics) To change to a diphthong, as by inserting or removing a vowel.
Coordinate term: monophthongize
(intransitive, phonetics) To become a diphthong.
Source: Wiktionary
Diph"thong*ize, v. t. & i.
Definition: To change into a diphthong, as by affixing another vowel to a simple vowel. "The diphthongized long vowels." H. Sweet.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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Word of the Day
2 April 2025
COVERT
(adjective) secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; “covert actions by the CIA”; “covert funding for the rebels”
Coffee Trivia
