The state of disuse. Pronounced DES-wee-tude. A very fancy way of saying “unused.” Etymology: early 17th century (in the sense ‘cessation’): from French, from Latin desuetudo, from desuet- ‘made unaccustomed’, from the verb desuescere, from de- (expressing reversal) + suescere ‘be accustomed’. A word I sort of like, because it has mnemonic de-“use”tude scrambled into the middle, and that makes the word, which […]
