abstemious

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 16, 2009 is: abstemious • \ab-STEE-mee-us\ • adjective : marked by restraint especially in the consumption of food or alcohol; also : reflecting such restraint Examples: Anthony's midlife heart attack opened his eyes to the importance of taking care of his body and turned him to a more abstemious and healthful lifestyle. Did you know? "Abstemious" and "abstain" look alike, and both have meanings involving self-restraint or self-denial. So they must both come from the same root, right? Yes and no. Both get their start from the Latin prefix "abs-," meaning "from" or "away," but "abstain" traces to "abs-" plus the Latin verb "tenēre" (meaning "to hold"), while "abstemious" gets its "-temious" from a suffix akin to the Latin noun "temetum," meaning "intoxicating drink." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.