ak-SEED
(verb) To agree to a request or demand, especially after initial resistance.
The board eventually acceded to the proposal after weeks of debate.
Fun Fact
“Accede” can also mean formally taking a position of power—like a monarch acceding to the throne. It’s a formal-sounding word often used in legal, political, or diplomatic circles where agreement follows negotiation.
SEM-uh-for
(noun) a system of conveying information through visual signals, often using flags, lights, or mechanical arms, especially over long distances.
Before modern radio communication, ships relied on semaphore to send urgent messages across open water.
Semaphore comes from the early 19th-century French word sémaphore, which itself is rooted in the Greek words sēma (meaning “sign”) and phoros (meaning “bearing” or “carrying”), literally translating to “sign-bearer.” The term was first used to describe mechanical signaling towers across France that transmitted messages visually from station to station long before electrical communication existed.
Fun Fact
Semaphore comes from the early 19th-century French word sémaphore, which itself is rooted in the Greek words sēma (meaning “sign”) and phoros (meaning “bearing” or “carrying”), literally translating to “sign-bearer.” The term was first used to describe mechanical signaling towers across France that transmitted messages visually from station to station long before electrical communication existed.
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