Summary: Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 20, 2013 is: trousseau \TROO-soh\ noun : the personal possessions of a bride usually including clothes, accessories, and household linens and wares Examples: I am fortunate to be in possession of various family heirlooms, including several items from my great-grandmother's trousseau. "Kate will promise to love, comfort, honor and keep Prince William. And as the countdown continues, the princess bride is not withering under the strain, seen around townshopping, perhaps, for her honeymoon trousseau." From a report by Natalie Morales in the NBC News Transcripts, April 23, 2011 Did you know? "Trousseau" is a descendant of the French verb "trousser," meaning "to truss" or "to tuck up." Fittingly, a bride might truss, or bundle, a variety of items as part of her trousseauand it is perhaps not too surprising that "truss" is also a "trousser" descendant. "Trousser" itself is thought to have evolved from a Vulgar Latin word, "torsus," meaning "twisted." Another descendant of "trousser" is "retroussé," meaning "turned up," as in a "retroussé nose."
