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casus belli (KAY-suhs BEL-y, BEL-ee) noun, plural casus belli
An action or event that causes or is used to justify starting a war. [From New Latin casus belli, from Latin casus, occasion, belli, genitive of bellum, war.] "RAI's news operations are still heavily politicized, with every channel following a political bent and news editors' appointments becoming a casus belli for political battles." Yaroslav Trofimov, RAI Chief Turns State Network Into Modern Firm, The Wall Street Journal, Dec 13, 2000. This week's theme: words from war. ............................................................................ Every civilizing step in history has been ridiculed as 'sentimental', 'impractical', or 'womanish', etc., by those whose fun, profit or convenience was at stake. -Joan Gilbert (1931- ) Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Language is a city to the building of which every human being brought a stone." Invite your friends and family to join in the quest by sending a gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day. It is free! http://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/casus_belli.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/casus_belli.ram
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