MORIBUND

[Dr. Goodword]

• moribund •

Pronunciation: mor-ê-bênd • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: On the brink of death in every sense of the word, in the process of dying (out).

Notes: Like most adjectives, today's Good Word may be used as an adverb with the proper attire: moribundly. It also comes with a noun, moribundity. Keep in mind that this word does not indicate death but merely the approach of death. Things moribund may still be revitalized and returned to a state of full health.

In Play: Though today's Good Word is still used literally in medicine, in ordinary conversation it is most often used metaphorically: "Andy Belham thinks that the civility that once imbued American society is moribund if not already in a state of rigor mortis." Anything that seems to be disappearing may be said to be moribund: "Interest in nuclear energy, moribund for the past 20 years, seems to be gaining strength these days."

Word History: This word comes to us through French from Latin moribundus "dying," an adjective derived from mori "to die" + an adjective suffix -bundus. The verb is based on the noun mors, mortis "death, of death", which came from an older word that we see in many Indo-European languages. In Russian it picked up a prefix s- to become smert' "death", the first element of SMERSH, from smert' shpionam "death to spies", the Soviet counterintelligence office during World War II. In English it picked up the suffix -er and came down to us as murder. English also borrowed a slew of words from Latin based on the Latin word: mortuary, mortician, mortal, morbid, and mortify are just a few. Of course, the name Morticia of the Addams Family is based on the same telling root. (We are happy that Eric Berntson is not a moribund subscriber but a very lively contributor of excellent Good Words like today's.)

[Slava]

A good word, though it's a shame we can apply it to so many of our Agora posters.

Question here: does one have to have been alive once to become moribund? A great many of our members have never posted at all. Are they moribund?

Any suggestions on how to get more people active here? I'm sure we'd all like to have more ideas floating around.