A.Word.A.Day--starets

Wordsmith.org

The Magic of Words

Jun 8, 2010

This week's theme
Words that appear plural but aren't

This week's words
taxis
starets

Sergius of Radonezh, a starets
(1314-1392)
Location: Sergiyev Posad, Russia

Photo: Ygrek

Erratum: Our apologies for the typo in yesterday's issue. It should have read: "plural is biceps or bicepses" instead of "plural is biceps or bicepes".

---

Discuss
Feedback
RSS/XML

---

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

starets

PRONUNCIATION:

(STAHR-its, -yits) plural startsy (STAHRT-see)

MEANING:

noun: A religious teacher or adviser.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Russian starets (elder). In the Eastern Orthodox Church a starets is a spiritual adviser who is not necessarily a priest.

USAGE:

"Grigori Rasputin, was neither mad nor a monk, but an unconventional starets."
Cecilia Rasmussen; Shadowed by Rasputin's Evil Reputation; Los Angeles Times; Oct 10, 1999.

Explore "starets" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule. -Michael Pollan, author, journalism professor (b. 1955)

Sponsored by:

Orijinz is a great Father's Day gift! "I've been playing the word game Orijinz ..lot of fun" -Jim Horne, NY Times

Angie's List Find ratings on whom to hire for all your home projects How to sponsor

Unsubscribe | Subscribe | Update address | Gift subscription | Contact us
Books by Anu Garg

© 2010 Wordsmith.org