Make Your Point > Archived Issues > STIPULATE
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As we'll see in a moment, the word stipulate reveals a curious connection in ancient Rome between broken stalks of hay and serious financial agreements.
According to this historical account, in ancient Rome, when a seller would promise that their cattle is healthy, and a buyer would promise to pay for the cattle, they would each hold onto the end of a stalk of hay, then break it together in a ceremonial establishment of a bond between them. That explains why, in Latin, the word for "a stalk of hay," stipula, closely resembles the word for "to strike a bargain, or to exact a promise," stipulari.
Part of speech:
Pick the formal, common, businesslike word "stipulate" when you want to say that someone is specifying what must happen if they're going to accept a serious agreement with someone else.
"To become a Sixer, you had to sign a contract stipulating, among other things, that if you found Halliday's egg, the prize would become the sole property of your employer."
Explain the meaning of "stipulate" without saying "specify" or "spell out."
Fill in the blanks: "(Some person or group) (can or can't) stipulate (how something gets done)."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
1.
A near opposite of STIPULATE is
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