In 1511, leaders in Mecca believed coffee stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. In 1524, the leaders overturned that order, and people could drink coffee again.
EXPEDIENT
expedient
(adjective) serving to promote your interest; “was merciful only when mercy was expedient”
expedient
(adjective) appropriate to a purpose; practical; “in the circumstances it was expedient to express loyalty”
expedient
(noun) a means to an end; not necessarily a principled or ethical one
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
expedient (comparative more expedient, superlative most expedient)
Suitable to effect some desired end or the purpose intended.
Affording short-term benefit, often at the expense of the long-term.
Governed by self-interest, often short-term self-interest.
(obsolete) Expeditious, quick, rapid.
Synonyms
• advisable, desirable, judicious, politic, prudent, tactical, wise
Noun
expedient (plural expedients)
A method or means for achieving a particular result, especially when direct or efficient; a resource.
Source: Wiktionary
Ex*pe"di*ent a. Etym: [L. expediens, -entis, p. pr. of expedire to be expedient, release, extricate: cf. F. expédient. See Expedite.]
1. Hastening or forward; hence, tending to further or promote a proposed object; fit or proper under the circumstances; conducive to self-interest; desirable; advisable; advantageous; -- sometimes contradistinguished from right. It is expedient for you that I go away. John xvi. 7. Nothing but the right can ever be expedient, since that can never be true expediency which would sacrifice a greater good to a less. Whately.
2. Quick; expeditious. [Obs.] His marches are expedient to this town. Shak.
Ex*pe"di*ent, n.
1. That which serves to promote or advance; suitable means to accomplish an end. What sure expedient than shall Juno find, To calm her fears and ease her boding mind Philips.
2. Means devised in an exigency; shift.
Syn.
– Shift; contrivance; resource; substitute.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
15 November 2024
HISTOLOGICALLY
(adverb) involving the use of histology or histological techniques; “histologically identifiable structures”
Coffee Trivia
