The Word of the Day podcast for August 24th.
Today's word is expeditious, spelled E-X-P-E-D-I-T-I-O-U-S.
Expeditious is an adjective.
It's a formal word that is used to describe someone acting
in a quick and efficient way or something done in such a manner.
Here's the word used in a sentence from the Los Angeles Daily News.
Inspectors were on campus Friday afternoon with a certified arborist.
To determine which trees are protected and the extent to which any damage
or removals have occurred, according to the city.
The city is prepared to conduct this inspection work in an expeditious manner
and supports the goal of returning students to a safe campus as soon as possible, the city's statement said.
Expeditious has had quite the journey through the English language.
It comes to us from the related noun expedition,
which in turn comes from the Latin verb expedere, meaning to set free or to make ready.
When expedition first set forth in English in the 1400s, it did so with two meanings that are still in use today,
a journey, especially by a group of people for a specific purpose, and efficient promptness.
Expeditious followed as an adjectival form of the latter.
Something such as, say, preparation for a long voyage done expeditiously is done quickly and efficiently.
In other words, it is expedited.
Like expeditious and expedition, expedite, too, comes from expedere.