approbation
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\n \n Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 19, 2024 is:\n \n
\n \n\n approbation • \\ap-ruh-BAY-shun\\ • noun
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Approbation is a formal word that refers to praise or approval.
\n\n// Their plan to rewild portions of the city\u2019s parks has won the approbation of the mayor.
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\u201cThat\u2019s not to say that all slang terms end up on the ash heap of history. Some of them break out and become incredibly popular. The most successful by far is \u2018OK,\u2019 which has become a universal means for expressing approbation. OK has been adopted into many other languages, and it may be the most widely used expression on the planet.\u201d \u2014 Roger Kreuz, Psychology Today, 16 Feb. 2024
\n \n \n\n Did you know?
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Approbation is similar in meaning to approval, and it is also very close to approval etymologically. Both words trace back to the Latin verb approbare, which means \u201cto prove\u201d or \u201cto approve.\u201d Approbation meant \u201cproof\u201d when it first appeared in English in the 1300s, and by the early 1500s it had come to refer to the act of formally or officially approving something, a sense it still retains in certain church-related contexts. Today, however, we mostly use approbation in the looser sense of \u201capproval, admiration, or praise.\u201d The related verb approbate means \u201cto approve or sanction,\u201d and the adjective approbatory means \u201cexpressing approval or commendation.\u201d
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