As I am reading SACRED HUNGER by Barry Unsworth, the word of the day has to do with slavery. However there are three words, and the reason for this is when I was a little kid I used to get these three words mixed up and use them in entirely inappropriate moments.
EMANCIPATION, EMANCIATION, EMASCULATION.
Using the wrong word here can be quite the faux pas.
EMANCIPATION
[ɪˌmansɪˈpeɪʃ(ə)n]
NOUNemancipations (plural noun) the fact or process of being set free from legal, social, or political restrictions; liberation."the social and political emancipation of women"
synonyms:freeing · liberation · liberating · setting free · release · releasing · letting loose/out · setting loose/free · discharge · unchaining · unfettering · unshackling · untying · unyoking · uncaging · unbridling · freedom · liberty · manumission · disenthralmentantonyms:enslavement · slaverythe freeing of someone from slavery."the early struggle for emancipation from slavery"
EMACIATION
[ɪˌmeɪsɪˈeɪʃ(ə)n]
NOUNemaciations (plural noun) the state of being abnormally thin or weak."thin to the point of emaciation"
synonyms:thinness · boniness · scrawniness · skinniness · scragginess · starvation · underfeeding · undernourishment · cadaverousness · gauntness · haggardness · attenuation · atrophy · anorexia · phthisis
antonyms:obesity
EMASCULATION
NOUN for
EMASCULATE
[ɪˈmaskjʊleɪt]
VERBemasculates (third person present) · emasculated (past tense) · emasculated (past participle) · emasculating (present participle) deprive (a man) of his male role or identity."in his mind, her success emasculated him"
synonyms:effeminate · effete · unmanly · unmasculine · girlish · namby-pamby · sissy · girly · limp-wristed · queeny · camp · epiceneantonyms:manly · macho
archaiccastrate (a man or male animal).
synonyms:castrate · neuter · geld · cut · desex · asexualize · sterilize · remove the testicles of · unman · alter · doctor · fix · evirate · caponize · eunuchizebotanyremove the anthers from (a flower).make (someone or something) weaker or less effective."the refusal to allow them to testify effectively emasculated the committee"synonyms:weaken · make feeble/feebler · debilitate · enfeeble · enervate · dilute · erode · undermine · impoverish · cripple · reduce the powers of · remove the sting from · pull the teeth of · water down
antonyms:strengthenORIGINearly 17th century: from Latinemasculat-‘castrated’, from the verb emasculare, from e- (variant of ex-, expressing a change of state) + masculus‘male’.
So there you go, you never have to get the three mixed up again!
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