Make Your Point > Archived Issues > INDITE

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

connect today's word to others: Indite is cousins with our recent word dictatorial. We got them both from the Latin dicere, meaning "to say or to speak." What kinds of things does a dictatorial person always say? make your point with... "INDITE" To indite something is to write it down, or to put it into words. Pronunciation: in DITE Part of speech: Transitive verb. (Like "eat," "try," and "want," all transitive verbs do something to an object. You eat a banana, try a game, and want a new phone. Likewise, you indite something.) Other forms: indited, inditing, inditement, inditer(s) Don't mix it up with "indict:" To indict people is to accuse them, or to bring charges against them. "Indict" sounds exactly the same as "indite," and they're both based on the same Latin root: dicere, "to say or to speak." If you have trouble with the difference, notice that "indite" looks like "write," and to indite something is to write it; while "indict" looks like "verdict," and an indictment might lead to a verdict. (Normally I don't recommend relying on arbitrary memory tricks like that one--it's better to find a good reason for the differences in spelling--but in this case, no such good reason exists. Unless you find it helpful to notice that the spelling of "indite" stayed French-y. It doesn't help me!) How to use it: This word is formal and serious. Pick it when "write" and "compose" aren't quite enough to express the sober, creative, or literary quality of what's being written. So, use it to talk about people who are thinking seriously as they put pen to paper (or type), but don't use it to talk about people sending casual emails or scribbling on Post-it notes. You might talk about people inditing letters, speeches, messages, poems, songs, stories, books, or novels. Although we most often say that people indite the final written product--that is, they indite a letter, they indite a message, they indite a poem--we can also say that people indite the ideas or content that goes into that product: "she indited her intentions," "he indited his love for her," "we indited our own conclusions," "they indited what they believed was the truth," "they were accused of inditing blasphemy." examples: Somewhere in a dusty box he might still have that pile of love letters I indited at summer camp. Rumor has it that William Faulkner indited As I Lay Dying on the back of an upturned wheelbarrow. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "indite" means when you can explain it without saying "compose" or "express in words." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Something) (moved, inspired, or compelled) (someone) to indite (something)." Example 1: "The blatant sexism in the film compelled her to indite a letter to the director." Example 2: "The way the afternoon sun defined the raindrops and leaves inspired me to indite a poem about it. (However, I'm lazy, so I didn't.)" before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. This month, we're playing "Coiners & Coinages." Use your knowledge of science, history, literature, and vocabulary as you match newly coined words to the people who coined them, and vice versa. Let's do this! From our previous issue: A shared bit of culture, or a funny picture that everyone keeps reposting, can be called a meme. Who coined the word MEME: was it Jane Goodall, Richard Dawkins, or Mark Zuckerberg? Answer: It was Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist, and his word is a fabulous specimen for this reason: as he invented the word for the concept, he gave us the full context for it. Including how he made it up, how to say it, what some examples of it are. Check it out: "I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like ‘gene’. I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate mimeme to meme... It should be pronounced to rhyme with ‘cream’. Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches." (That's from The Selfish Gene, published in 1976). Try this today: In reference to people born between, approximately, the 1980's and the mid 1990's, was the word MILLENNIAL coined by the psychologist Albert Bandura, the advertising executive Sir John Hegarty, or the historians William Strauss and Neil Howe? review today's word: 1. A close opposite of INDITED is A. UNINHIBITED. B. UNEXPRESSED. C. UNCALLED FOR. 2. Each child in the class had the chance to indite _____. A. an invention that would eliminate a daily annoyance B. an ergonomic, astronaut-friendly design for a space station C. a message to future children to place in the school's time capsule Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. C