Word of the Day: Propaganda

Propaganda is any kind of information that is spread to help or harm a specific doctrine, system, person, group and so on. The origin of the word is connected with the “College of the Propaganda,” a school created by Pope Urban VIII to educate priests for missions around the world.

In various pronouncements, top propaganda and security officials have stressed anew the need to police the Internet on ideological and security grounds. (NY Times)

Military successes in Iraq have nearly crippled al-Qaeda’s ability to produce battlefield propaganda, hampering for now its ability to recruit fighters and raise money, the U.S. military and analysts say. (USA Today)

Got Your Free eBook?


  • Subscribe to Daily Writing Tips and you will be able to download our free ebook: Basic English Grammar.
  • You will also get all our grammar, spelling, punctuation and writing tips.
  • The download link will go along with the first email (you might need to wait up to 24 hours).

2 Responses to “Word of the Day: Propaganda”

  1. Eric C on December 18, 2009 5:06 am

    But like all things, this word is totally loaded. It has its place, depending on how you define it.

  2. Michael Batey on December 18, 2009 2:46 pm

    The Latin version of the name ‘College of the Propaganda’ was Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, where ‘propaganda’ is a gerundive, and means roughly ‘worthy of being propagated’. This is the same construction as the names Amanda (’worthy of being loved’) and Miranda (’worthy of being admired’).

Got something to say?





Sponsors

Self Publish Your Book! time tracking and invoicing for freelancers Be Your Own Editor - Buy The Book Now Advertise Here!

Recent Articles