23 May 2013

vivify

[viv-uh-fahy]

verb (used with object), viv·i·fied, viv·i·fy·ing.

1. to give life to; animate; quicken.
2. to enliven; brighten; sharpen.

Origin:
1535–45; alteration (with -fy for -ficate ) of late Middle English vivificate < Latin vīvificātus (past participle of vīvificāre ). See vivi-, -ficate

Related forms
viv·i·fi·ca·tion, noun
viv·i·fi·er, noun
un·viv·i·fied, adjective

Today’s aphorism

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

– Thomas Paine

On this day

23 May 1934 – notorious bank robbers, Bonny Parker and Clyde Barrow, are killed in a shoot-out with police in Black Lake, Louisiana. Bonny and Clyde have been immortalised in songs and movies.