It's the word of the day for November 1st.

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Today's word is ostracize, spelled O-T-R-A-C-I-Z-E.

Osterize is a verb.

To ostracize someone is to exclude them from a group by the agreement of the group's members.

Here's the word used in a sentence from the Boston Globe.

Telling stories with affection and nouging, comedian Sarah Silverman,

has always been encouraged by her family,

who embraced rather than ostracized her for revealing family secrets

on the way to reaping howls of laughter.

In ancient Greece, citizens whose power or influence threatened the stability of the state

could be exiled by a practice involving voters writing that person's name down on a pot shirt,

a fragment of earthenware or pottery. Those receiving enough votes would then be subject to temporary exile from the state.

Ostracize comes from the Greek verb ostrichyzein, itself from the noun Ostracon, meaning poachered, used in 5th century Athens for the action of banishing someone by way of such a vote.

Someone ostracized today is not exiled, but instead is excluded from a group by the agreement of the group's members.

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

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