It's the Word of the Day podcast for November 2nd.
Today's word is arbitrary, spelled A-R-B-I-T-R-A-R-Y.
Arbitrary is an adjective.
It describes something that is not planned or chosen for a particular reason,
is not based on reason or evidence, or is done without concern for what is fair or right.
Here's the word used.
In a sentence from The Eagle and the Heart, the tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Caster.
The authority of the crown, contemporaries believed,
was instituted by God to rule the kingdom and its people.
England's sovereign was required to be both a warrior and a judge to protect the realm from external attack and internal anarchy.
To depose the king, therefore, was to risk everything,
worldly security and immortal soul, by challenging the order of God's creation.
Such devastatingly radical action could never be justified unless kingship became tyranny,
ruled by arbitrary will rather than law.
threatening the interests of kingdom and people instead of defending them.
Donning black robes and a powdered wig to learn about the word arbitrary might seem to be an arbitrary that is random or capricious choice,
but it would in fact jibe with the words etymology.
The word arbitrary comes from the Latin noun arbitere, which means judge,
and is the source of the English word arbiter, also meaning judge.
In English, arbitrary first meant depending upon choice or discretion,