Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Conditions favorable -- propitious

from wordsmith.org

propitious (pruh-PISH-uhs) adjective
1. Presenting favorable conditions.
2. Favorably inclined; kindly.

[From Middle English propicius, from Latin propitius, ultimately from Indo-European root pet- (to rush, fly). Other words from this root are feather, pin, impetus, and pinnacle.]

"[Foreign] aid had a propitious effect on growth in poorer developing countries in the 1960s and on middle-income countries in the 1970s."
-- Girish P Pant; Aid and Growth; Kathmandu Post (Nepal); July 15, 2005.

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