Manducate
Verb
- Chew or eat.
Example Sentences
“Manducate your food well before you swallow.”
“I can’t wait to manducate the treats from the cookie swap.”
“After my dental surgery, I won’t be able to manducate for a few days, so I have plenty of smoothies and ice cream stocked up.”
Word Origin
Latin, early 17th century
Why this word?
“Manducate” might look something like the buzzword “mansplain,” but the former term has nothing to do with explaining or educating. Instead, “manducate” is a fancy term for something everyone does: chewing or eating. In the 16th century, the original English word was “manducation,” which came from the Latin verb “mandere,” meaning “to chew.” The word turned into “manducate” by the 17th century, but it still seems like a very formal term for an activity such as chewing. However, the related Latin word “manduco” meant “guzzler,” so there’s no need to stand on formality.