panoply
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\n \n Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 23, 2024 is:\n \n
\n \n\n panoply • \\PAN-uh-plee\\ • noun
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Panoply is a formal word that refers to a group or collection that is impressive either because of its size or because it includes so many different kinds of people or things.
\n\n// The new website offers shoppers a panoply of snack foods, soft drinks, and other treats from around the world.
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\u201cGiven that all of us, in our daily lives, are constantly confronted by a limitless confusion of knowledge \u2026 one can say that all of us are being educated all the while, and that education is in its essence the business of any transmission of knowledge from one party to another. \u2026 No part of this vast panoply of knowledge diffusion is more important for the future of human society than that which passes in one direction, downward across the generations, from the older members of a society to the younger.\u201d \u2014 Simon Winchester, Knowing What We Know, 2023
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Despite having Greek origins and similar sounds, panoply is not related\u2014etymologically or semantically\u2014to monopoly; its history has more to do with Mediterranean warfare than Mediterranean Avenue. Panoply comes from the Greek word panoplia, which referred to the full suit of armor worn by hoplites, heavily armed infantry soldiers of ancient Greece. Panoplia is a blend of the prefix pan-, meaning \u201call,\u201d and hopla, meaning \u201carms\u201d or \u201carmor.\u201d (As you may have guessed, hopla is also an ancestor of hoplite.) Panoply entered English in the early 17th century with its Greek use intact: it referred to a full set of armor\u2014an impressive array, you might say, of protective bits and bobs, from breastplates to brassards. Over time, panoply developed its figurative sense referring to an impressive, extensive collection or array of things, as in \u201cShe won the game by bankrupting her opponents with a panoply of properties built up with houses and hotels.\u201d
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