It's the Word of the Day for May 31st.

Today's word is opportune, spelled O-P-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-E.

Oppertune is an adjective.

It describes something that is suitable or convenient for a

particular situation or that is done or happening at an appropriate time. Here's the word used

in a sentence from the New York Times by Annabelle Keenan. The Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut

was constructed on the site of an 1830s shipyard built by three mariner

brothers, George Clark and Thomas Greenman. They, like other entrepreneurs in the booming seafaring

community of Mystic, took over low-lying and marshy lands whose gently sloping banks

and proximity to the Atlantic Ocean were opportune for shipbuilding.

If you've never had the opportunity to learn the history behind the word opportune, now's your chance.

Both opportune and opportunity came from the Latin word opportunus, which can mean favoring one's

needs, serviceable, or convenient.

Opportunus itself constructed from the prefix ob, meaning to, portu, the stem of the noun

portus, meaning port or harbor, and the adjective suffix noose, N-U-S, suggests the value of any

port available when a storm is brewing or raging.

Portoos has dropped anchor in other English words as well, including portal, passport, and, of course, port.

Its footprint is also scattered across our maps in coastal place names, from Newport to Puerto Rico to Porto Alegre.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sarkoosk. Music in coastal place names, from Newport to Puerto Rico to Porto Alegre.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sackamosk.

Visit Miriamwebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups.