Word Wise

This weeks word:
abecedarian (a·be·ce·dar·i·an )


NOUN:

1. One who teaches or studies the alphabet.
   
2. One who is just learning; a beginner.

At the rip old age of 60 I have chosen to become an abecedarian in the arts.
A B C D ….My granddaughter is a abecedarian at the age of 2.

ADJECTIVE:

1. Having to do with the alphabet.
   
2. Being arranged alphabetically.
   
3. Elementary or rudimentary.

ETYMOLOGY:


Origin: Middle English, from Medieval Latin abecedārium, alphabet, from Late Latinabecedārius, alphabetical : from the names of the letters A B C D + -ārius, -ary.

SYNONYMS: amateur, dabbler, fledgling, learner, neophyte,novice, tenderfoot


ANTONYMS: professional, expert, old hand, professional, veteran

NOTE:
Abecedarians were a 16th century German sect of Anabaptists who affected an absolute disdain for all human knowledge, contending that God would enlighten his elect from within themselves, giving them knowledge of necessary truths by visions and ecstasies, with which human learning would interfere. They rejected every other means of instruction, and claimed that to be saved one must even be ignorant of the first letters of the alphabet; whence their name, A-B-C-darians.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
The Free Dictionary by Farlex June 14, 2011 <http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Abecedarian">