627: apt and appropriate Aug 26, 2016

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It is common to find 'appropriate' as the first definition of 'apt' in a dictionary. Despite their similarity in sound and spelling, 'apt' and 'appropriate' are not from the same word. For starters, they have different roots, but also, 'apt' has a meaning that 'appropriate' does not, "quick to learn". As such, 'inappropriate' is the opposite of something suitable: a negated meaning of both words, but 'inept', the opposite of 'quick to learn" negates only the meaning carried by 'apt'. The change from A to E in 'inept' is just due to old conventions before standardization, but it is still a (direct) derivative.

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