It's the Word of the Day podcast for March 21st.

Today's word is scrutinize, spelled S-C-R-U-T-I-N-I-Z-E.

Scrutinize is a verb. To scrutinize something is to examine it carefully, especially in a critical way.

Here's the word used in a sentence from the Baltimore Sun. The governor proposes a balanced budget,

and the General Assembly scrutinizes every line. Scrutinize the history of the word scrutinize far back enough, and you wind up sifting through

trash.

This word comes from the Latin scutari, which means to search to examine, and scutari likely comes

from scutta, meaning trash.

The etymology evokes one who searches through trash for

anything of value. The noun scrutiny preceded scrutinize in English, and in its earliest 15th century

use referred to a formal vote and later to an official examination of votes. Scrutonize was established in the 17th century

with its familiar to examine closely meaning, but retained reference to voting with the specific

meaning to examine votes, at least into the 18th century. Votes are still commonly said to be scrutinized in the general sense of the

word. And while the term scrutineer can be a general term referring to someone who examines something,

it's also sometimes used in British English, specifically as a term for someone who takes or counts

votes. With your word of the day,

I'm Peter Sakulowski.

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