INCOMMODIOUS

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Dr. Goodword
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INCOMMODIOUS

Postby Dr. Goodword » Mon Dec 12, 2005 12:45 am

• incommodious •

Pronunciation: in-kê-mo-di-ês • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: 1. Inconvenient, troublesome, annoying. 2. Uncomfortably small, lacking sufficient space.

Notes: Today's Good Word is the negative of commodious "convenient, advantageous, comfortable". It comes from a verb incommode "to make difficult, inconvenient", the negative of the verb commode "to provide with". Today this verb is most often replaced by its synonym and cousin, accommodate. You may use the adverb incommodiously and the noun incommodiousness, if you have the time to articulate them.

In Play: Because of its semantic relationship with accommodate, today's word usually combines the senses of being too small and inconvenient: "Although I appreciated the job, I was provided with a most incommodious office next to the boiler room in the basement." However, as Meaning 1 above indicates, smallness is not an inevitable sense of the word: "I found arrival of the plumber during my morning shower most incommodious."

Word History: Incommodious meant simply "inconvenient" in Middle English, whither it came from Medieval Latin incommodiosus. This adjective was a descendant of Latin incommodus: in- "not" + com- "with" + modus "measure". At the bottom of this rather long word is the PIE root *med-/mod- "measure; to take (appropriate) measures". The same root underlies Old English mete "measure", remaining today only in the archaic expression to mete out justice.
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M. Henri Day
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Re: INCOMMODIOUS

Postby M. Henri Day » Mon Dec 12, 2005 8:54 am

...

However, as Meaning 1 above indicates, smallness is not an inevitable sense of the word: "I found arrival of the plumber during my morning shower most incommodious."
Cramped shower cabin - not big enough for two ?...

Henri
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Apoclima
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Postby Apoclima » Mon Dec 12, 2005 5:25 pm

Wonderful word.

"Glad to see you old friend!"

(I knew him when he was emperor.)

Apo
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