verbatim

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 12, 2024 is:

verbatim • \ver-BAY-tim\ • adverb

Verbatim is an adverb meaning "in the exact words," or in other words, "word for word."

// The coach was quoted verbatim in the article announcing that she would retire at the end of the season.

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Examples:

"The case is drawn from astonishing real-life events and much of the dialogue is lifted verbatim from court transcripts." — Lisa Wong Macabasco, Vogue, 13 Jan. 2023

Did you know?

As every bona fide word nerd knows, English is rich with Latin descendants. While most have undergone changes in spelling, some are the same—in other words, they are spelled verbatim. We won't list examples of such ad nauseam, but a few include caveat, ego, vice versa and, of course, verbatim. This last word comes to us from the Medieval Latin word verbātim which also means "word for word." As you may have noticed, there’s a verb in verbatim, and that’s no mere coincidence. Both verb and verbatim come from verbum, the Latin word for "word." The influence of verbum can be seen in other common English words such as proverb, verbose, adverb, et cetera. And speaking of adverbs, verbatim isn’t just an adverb; it’s also used as an adjective to mean "being in or following the exact words" (as in "a verbatim report") and on rare occasions as a noun referring to an account, translation, or report that follows the original word for word.