It's the word of the day for February 16th.
Today's word is prerogative, spelled P-R-E-R-O-G-A-T-I-V-E.
prerogative is a noun.
It means right or privilege and especially refers to a special right or privilege that some people have.
Here's the word used in a sentence from the Orlando Sentinel.
Successfully arguing an insanity defense, the prerogative of any defendant is a difficult hurdle.
In ancient Rome, voting at legal assemblies was done by group,
with the majority in a group determining the vote.
The word for the group chosen to vote first on an issue was prerogativa,
a noun rooted in the Latin verb rogare, meaning to ask, to ask an assembly for a decision.
When English adopted prerogative from Latin via Anglo-French in the 15th century,
it took only the idea of the privilege the ancient Roman voting group enjoyed.
The English word referred then, as it does now, to an exclusive or special right power or privilege.
Often such a prerogative is tied to an office, official body, or nation.
But as Bobby Brown reminded us in his 1988 song, My Prerogative,
the right to live as you like can also be referred to as a prerogative.
With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.
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