"percontation, n." - Word of the Day from the OED

[Dave Monroe]

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Date: Sun, 1 Sep 2013 01:30:00 +0100
Subject: "percontation, n." - Word of the Day from the OED
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OED Online Word of the Day.
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Your word for today is: percontation, n.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/140612

† percontation, n.
[‘ A question or inquiry which requires more than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.’]
Etymology: <  classical Latin percontatiōn-, percontatiō action of
questioning, particular question <  percontāt-, past participial stem
of percontārī (also percontāre) to inquire, interrogate ( <  per- per-
prefix + contus boat-pole: see quant n.1) + -iō -ion suffix1.
N.E.D. (1905) gives the pronunciation as (pə̄ɹkǫntēi·ʃən) /ˌpɜːkɒnˈteɪʃən/.
 Obs.
  A question or inquiry which requires more than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.
1623  H. Cockeram Eng. Dict., Percontation, an enquiry.
1656  T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. viii. 41 Percontation is a thing
for which we cannot answer significantly, as in Interrogation, yes:
but as thus, He dwelleth in such a place.
1844  S. R. Maitland Dark Ages ii. 24 Between a percontation and
interrogation, the ancients made this distinction—that the former
admitted a variety of answers, while the latter must be replied to by
‘yes’ or ‘no’.

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