escapade

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 3, 2007 is: escapade • \ESS-kuh-payd\ • noun : a usually adventurous action that runs counter to approved or conventional conduct Examples: His latest film is a screwball comedy depicting the calamitous escapades of two men who stow away on a cruise ship. Did you know? When it was first used in English, "escapade" referred to an act of escaping or fleeing from confinement or restraint. The relationship between "escape" and "escapade" does not end there. Both words derive from the Vulgar Latin verb "excappare," meaning "to escape," a product of the Latin prefix "ex-" and the Late Latin noun "cappa," meaning "head covering or cloak." While "escape" took its route through Anglo-French and Middle English, however, "escapade" made its way into English by way of the Spanish "escapar" ("to escape") and the French "escapade." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.