It’s all in the Prefix

Elicit

Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt.

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This is one of those words that gets mixed up often with another:  In this case, illicit.

Elicit is a verb. Illicit is an adjective.

You elicit laughter from an audience when you tell a good joke. To sell drugs, however, is illicit.

It’s all in the prefix. Ill- always indicates  that which is not right, not legal, not applicable. Illegal, for instance, or illegitimate.

Elicit, on the other hand, starts with a prefix that means out or out of. The beginning e is derived from the Latin ex, out, as in exit.  So it means to draw out. 

And here’s a sentence that may confuse things even further: ” His leadership elicited illicit behavior on the part of his followers.”

And there you have your grammar lesson for the day.  I know how happy that makes you 🙂

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/elicit/