Word - 50

RAPPORTEUR \ra-por-TER\ noun

: a person who gives reports (as at a meeting of a learned society)

Example sentence:
The rapporteur compiled the available evidence into a report and presented it to the full committee.

Did you know?

"Rapporteur" was adopted into English in the early 16th century and is a descendant of the Middle French verb "rapporter," meaning "to bring back, report, or refer." Other descendants of "rapporter" in English include "rapportage" (a rare synonym of "reportage," in the sense of "writing intended to give an account of observed or documented events") and "rapport" ("harmonious relationship"). The words "report," "reporter," "reportage," etc., are also distant relatives of "rapporteur"; all can ultimately be traced back to the Latin prefix "re-," meaning "back, again, against," and the Latin word "portare," meaning "to carry."

Word - 49

BELEAGUER \bih-LEE-gur\ verb

1 : besiege
*2 : trouble, harass

Example sentence:
The new programming chief was hired to revamp the schedule for the network, which was consistently beleaguered by low ratings.

Did you know?

English speakers created "beleaguer" from the Dutch word "belegeren" in the 16th century. "[Military men] will not vouchsafe ... to use our ancient terms belonging to matters of war, but do call a camp by the Dutch name," commented the English soldier and diplomat Sir John Smyth in 1590. The word for "camp" that he was referring to is "leaguer." That term in turn comes from Dutch "leger," which is one of the building blocks of "belegeren" (literally, "to camp around"). But neither "leaguer" nor "beleaguer" were in fact utterly foreign. Old English "leger," the source of our modern "lair," is related to the Dutch word. And the Old English "be-" ("about, around"), as seen in "besiege" and "beset," is related to the Dutch prefix "be-" in "belegeren."