October 22, 2012
- inure (verb)
- \in-NOOR\
- What does it mean?
- 1 : to make less sensitive : harden2 : accrue
- How do you use it?
- After the harsh critique of his first novel, the author became inured to criticism.
- Are you a word wiz?
Where do you think we get the word "inure" from?
"Inure" is a word that traces ultimately back to Anglo-French, which is a language that was spoken in the Middle Ages and was a mix of medieval French and Old English. The Anglo-French phrase "mettre en ovre," meaning "to put into practice," was partially translated into Middle English as "putten in ure." The "in ure" part was read as a single unit that meant "customary," and a verb was made from it. That verb gave us the modern word "inure," which originally meant "to accustom someone to something."
