Word Of The Week #132

[ajax]

Word Of The Week -- tribune
Definition: trib·une (trĭb'yōōn', trĭ-byōōn')
n.

1. A person who upholds or defends the rights of the people.
2. An officer of ancient Rome elected by the plebeians to protect their rights from arbitrary acts of the patrician magistrates.
3. A raised platform or dais from which a speaker addresses an assembly.
4. The usually domed or vaulted apse of a Christian church that contains the bishop's throne.

Etymology: [Middle English, from Old French: tribun, from Latin tribūnus, from tribus, tribe; definitions 3-4 are from French, from Old French, part of a church, speaking platform, from Old Italian tribuna, from Medieval Latin tribūna, alteration of Latin tribūnal; see tribunal.]

Obscurity: 45% (I've seen this a few times, but am not really sure what it means.)

Usefulness: 20% (More common in print, but meaning is generally clear from context.)

Examples:
(def. 1) "The role of tribune is an unlikely one for this son of an autocratic despot, but his passion for justice is stronger than his blood ties."
(def. 2) "Roman Plebeians took an oath to kill any person who harmed or interfered with a tribune in the course of his duties."
(def. 3) "The 2000 presidential campaign of Gary Bauer was memorable primarily for the occasion on which the candidate plummeted from a tribune while chasing down an errant pancake in New Hampshire."
(def. 4) "The Cathedral Petri (St. Peter's Throne) is to be found in the Main Tribune, at the end of the central nave of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome."

Here's an old reader submission from hilker, who suggested that the "people's champion" definition of tribune provided an ironic contrast to the (very Republican) editorial slant of the Chicago newspaper bearing that name.

The Trib caused quite a stir recently when they decided to endorse Barack Obama for President. And while it might seem a no-brainer for a Chicago paper to endorse a local candidate over the opponent, one should also bear in mind that Obama is the first Democrat they have endorsed for the nation's highest office in the entire 161-year history of the newspaper.

It just goes to show how far the GOP's brand has fallen when a paper that endorsed Herbert Hoover over FDR and Charles Evans Hughes over Woodrow Wilson (not to mention George W. Bush, twice!) simply cannot stomach the idea of four more years of Republican rule.

--- Ajax.