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Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for June 4, 2020 is:

posture • PAHSS-cher  • verb

1 : to cause to assume a given posture : pose

2 : to assume a posture; especially : to strike a pose for effect

3 : to assume an artificial or pretended attitude : attitudinize

Examples:

“During the rut, grabbing a bite to eat was an afterthought for bucks, but right now and in the weeks to come, choosing a prime food source is key to their survival. Sure … bucks are still banging antlers and posturing to prove who’s boss. But this is all happening at, or around, the best food sources in the area.” — Scott Bestul, Field & Stream, 6 Jan. 2020

“It’s also been assumed that a rift exists between Elway and Harris, but according to the player, that couldn’t be further from the truth, despite the two being postured as adversaries over contracts and money.” — Chad Jensen, Sports Illustrated, 11 Jan. 2020

Did you know?

The Latin verb ponere, meaning “to put” or “to place,” had a role in putting quite a few English terms into place, including component, dispose, expose, impose, oppose, posit, position, positive, postpone, and, yes, posture. The past participle of ponere—positus—gave Latin the noun positura, which has the same meaning as the English noun posture. Positura passed through Italian and Middle French and was finally adopted by English speakers as posture in the late 16th century. The verb posture later developed from the noun, finding its place in English at around the midpoint of the 17th century.