inure
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WOTD - 5 October 2009
English
Etymology
Middle English, Back-formation from enured, customary; from "in ure": "in", "in"; see "in" 1 + "ure", use (from Old French "euvre", "uevre", work); from Latin "opera", activity associated with work (See op- in Indo-European Roots).
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Pronunciation
Verb
to inure (third-person singular simple present inures, present participle inuring, simple past and past participle inured)
- To cause to become accustomed to something unpleasant by prolonged exposure.
- 1996, Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World
- Today there are even commercials in which real scientists, some of considerable distinction, shill for corporations. They teach that scientists too will lie for money. As Tom Paine warned, inuring us to lies lays the groundwork for many other evils.
- To take effect, or to benefit someone. In property law, the term means "to vest".
- Jim buys a beach house that includes the right to travel across the neighbor's property to get to the water. That right of way is said, cryptically, "to inure to the benefit of Jim".
Anagrams
