propaganda

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause

Etymology

From New Latin prōpāganda, short for Congregātiō dē Prōpāgandā Fidē (“a committee of cardinals established in 1622 by Gregory XV to supervise foreign missions”, literally “congregation for propagating the faith”), and properly the ablative feminine gerundive of Latin prōpāgō (“propagate”). Once the word had been detached from the phrase from which it originated, it could be reinterpreted as a neuter plural gerundive, meaning "things to be propagated"; compare agenda. Modern political sense dates from World War I, not originally pejorative.

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