Legal Writing

Word watch: stimulus

By Pam_Nelson

The economic stimulus bill that Congress and President Obama have been discussing this week led me to the dictionary today. I figured that the word had Latin roots, and indeed, it does.

Stimulus means "something that rouses or excites to action," according to Webster's New World College Dictionary. The Latin stimulus means a goad, sting, torment, pang, spur, incentive. That's a lot of meanings for one word.

The Oxford English Dictionary says the word was originally used in medical contexts, referring to something that causes a response in an organism. Stimulus is the perfect word for what the president and Congress want to do: cause a response in the economy.

Full post as published by Triangle Grammar Guide on February 07, 2009 (boomark / email).