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.
VIGILANCE
watchfulness, vigilance, weather eye
(noun) vigilant attentiveness; “he keeps a weather eye open for trouble”
watchfulness, wakefulness, vigilance, alertness
(noun) the process of paying close and continuous attention; “wakefulness, watchfulness, and bellicosity make a good hunter”; “vigilance is especially susceptible to fatigue”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
vigilance (usually uncountable, plural vigilances)
Alert watchfulness.
Close and continuous attention.
(obsolete) A guard; a person set to watch.
Source: Wiktionary
Vig"i*lance, n. Etym: [L. vigilantia: cf. F. vigilance.]
1. The quality or state of being vigilant; forbearance of sleep; wakefulness.
2. Watchfulness in respect of danger; care; caution; circumspection. Cowper. And flaming ministers to watch and tend Their earthly charge; of these the vigilance I dread. Milton.
3. Guard; watch. [Obs.] "In at this gate none pass the vigilance here placed." Milton. Vigilance committee, a volunteer committee of citizens for the oversight and protection of any interest, esp. one organized for the summary suppression and punishment of crime, as when the processes of law appear inadequate.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Word of the Day
22 September 2024
SPRINGBOARD
(noun) a beginning from which an enterprise is launched; “he uses other people’s ideas as a springboard for his own”; “reality provides the jumping-off point for his illusions”; “the point of departure of international comparison cannot be an institution but must be the function it carries out”
Coffee Trivia
