Word of the Day

Wednesday January 13, 2010

bestow [bih-STOH]

transitive verb

To present as a gift.
To use; to apply; to devote.
To give or confer; to impart.

A growing body of research suggests that certain people may be able to withstand sleep deprivation better than others, and that the ability to perform relatively well on little sleep - at least for a short period - could be an inherited trait, like eye color and height. At least two laboratories have reported discovering genes that might bestow an ability to thrive on less-than-average sleep, and more are searching for such genes.

Liz Kowalczyk, "Turns out, there's no magic in that traditional number eight when figuring out how many hours of shut-eye you need", Boston Globe, Dec 28, 2009
A commitment to restrained growth and other tenets of the sustainability ethic has earned Sonoma Valley the nation's first "Slow City" designation, a broader interpretation of the international Slow Food movement. Envoys from the international organization Cittaslow, translated from Italian as "slow city," will travel to Sonoma in January to bestow the honor.

Loria Carter, "FIRST IN SLOWNESS: AREA ONLY U.S. AREA TO RECEIVE 'SLOW CITY' DESIGNATION FROM ITALIAN GROUP", The Press Democrat, Dec 28, 2009
Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, "My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?" No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English novelist and social campaigner. A Christmas Carol (1843)

Origin of the Word

Bestow, approximately 1400, bistowen "give", as alms, from be- + stowen "to place."