September 10, 2009
- opportunity (noun)
- \ah-per-TOO-nuh-tee\
- What does it mean?
- 1 : a favorable combination of circumstances, time, and place2 : a chance to better oneself
- How do you use it?
- "'But there are opportunities for so many excellent puns in our language that, to an educated person like myself, the temptation to express them is almost irresistible.'" (L. Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz)
- Are you a word wiz?
We can trace "opportunity" to the Latin word "portus." What do you Latin speakers were referring to when they used the word "portus"?
If you chose C, we'd like to take this opportunity to tell you that you're right. "Portus," the Latin root of "opportunity," means "harbor" or "port." It is also the ancestor of the word "port" itself. We also find "portus" at the root of the words "opportune," meaning "suitable, timely," and "passport," meaning "a government-issued document that serves to identify a citizen and allows him or her to travel to foreign countries."
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