Word of the day: propaedeutic

And the word of the day is:

Propaedeutic

"Propaedeutic" is an adverb meaning "serving or needed as preparation for learning or further study"¹ or "relating to or of the nature of preliminary instruction"². Or a noun for something that one could describe using those adjectives.

In other words, something propaedeutic is something you learn before you learn something else.

So, the claim that learning an auxiliary language like Esperanto or Interlingua makes it easier to learn a subsequent language is stating that auxiliary languages have propaedeutic qualities.

See if you can use it in a sentence and make it sound normal!

It's pronounced pro(as in 'professional') pae(as in 'paediatric') deu(as in 'deuce') tic(as in 'tick').


1. propaedeutic. (2007). In The Penguin English Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com.elibrary.jcu.edu.au/entry/penguineng/propaedeutic

2. propaedeutic. (2005). In The Macquarie Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com.elibrary.jcu.edu.au/entry/macqdict/propaedeutic