Incumbent - Word of the Day - February 11, 2016
Noun
Pronunciation
in-KUM-bunt
Definition
1: the holder of an office or ecclesiastical benefice
2: one that occupies a particular position or place
Examples
The two-term incumbent has already raised almost a million
dollars for the upcoming congressional race.
"In recent weeks, the candidates hoping to succeed
Obama have backed into an honest debate about what American power can and can't
do. On Tuesday, the incumbent himself joined in, explicitly defending his own
restrained approach." — Dante Ramos, The
Boston Globe, 14 Jan. 2016
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Did You Know?
When incumbent was first used in English in the 15th
century, it referred to someone who occupied a benefice—a paid position in a
church. This was often a lifetime appointment; the person could only be forced
to leave the office in the case of certain specific legal conflicts. In the mid-17th
century, incumbent came to refer to anyone holding any office, including
elected positions. These days, in the American political system, incumbent
generally refers to someone who is the current holder of a position during an
election to fill that position. Incumbent came to English through Anglo-French
and derives from the Latin incumbere, meaning "to lie down on."
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