Word Woman

Welcome to Word Woman’s weekly workout! Everyone knows how important it is to keep in shape as you walk down the road of life, but it's not just your body that needs exercise. Studies have shown that intellectual stimulation is best way to protect your brain from the effects of cognitive decline and memory loss due to aging. And since it’s never too early to start stretching your vocabulary, let’s work that gray matter with the word of the week:

aginate: [adj-uh-nate] to sell small things. The noun aginator would be a nice term for an online auction seller. From a Latin word for part of a scale. ["More Weird and Wonderful Words", Erin McKean, ed., Oxford University Press, 2003]

Example: "Some enterprising aginators on E-Bay can keep themselves supplied with pocket money for months just by selling odds and ends from the attic as memorabilia."