Word of the Day

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Today's Word: providential

This week's theme: Opportune and Lucky

providential

(adjective) [prov'-i-DEN-shahl]

1. resulting from divine providence; 'providential care'; 'a providential visitation'

2. as if by divine intervention; opportune; very lucky: "Our dog made a providential recovery after being hit by a car."

adverb form: providentially

Origin

Approximately 1645; from Latin, 'providentia': foresight, precaution, from 'providentem,' past participle of 'providere': to look ahead, to prepare ('pro-': ahead + 'videre': to see).

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"The move to Sirius takes Mr. Stern outside of the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission, which has levied over $2 million in decency fines on his old bosses at Infinity Broadcasting and the broadcast stations that carried his program. But although Mr. Stern speaks of the move in providential terms and though the symbols is a raised fist, he is hardly leaving as a martyr. Sirius will be paying him $100 million a year over five years to produce his own morning show and to program two radio channels.

Now that the revolt against his old bosses is over, Mr. Stern will see how many fans buy the Sirius radios and pay the $12.95 a month to hear his new show. Even among the rabid devotees at the Hard Rock, there were those, like Mike Assini, a 28-year-old Staten Islander, who had not yet made the commitment."

Campbell Robertson. "Howard Stern Bids Farewell to the Censors," The New York Times (December 16, 2005).

"'It seems almost providential that the New York Academy of Sciences is returning to its original neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, mere footsteps from where eight doctors created what has become one of the world's finest scientific institutions,' said the Academy's President, Ellis Rubinstein. 'As was the desire of those original founders, it is our mission to advance the understanding of science, technology, and medicine by embracing the future. With this move, we are continuing that mission while making a major commitment to the continuing revitalization of Downtown by making our new home in one of New York's best new locations.'

Founded by doctors from Physicians and Surgeons, then independent of Columbia University and New York City's only M.D.-granting institution, the Academy is one of New York's oldest institutions. Former members have included Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Louis Pasteur, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Thomas Jefferson, James Watson, as well as most of the leading New York scientists of every era."

"New York Academy of Sciences Signs Lease at 7 WTC; Preeminent Scientific Institution to Take 40,000 SF on 40th Floor," PR Newswire (December 15, 2005).

"No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency."

George Washington. First President of the United States. First inaugural address (April 30, 1789).

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