Definition: Lacking teeth (the dental correlate of "bald"). The antonym of dentate "having or shaped like teeth."

Usage: The verb, also "edentate," means to extract or otherwise remove teeth. "Edentation" is the noun from the verb. "Edentulous" [ee-'den-tyu-lês] or [ee-'den-chê-lês] has the same meaning as "edentate," deriving from Latin "edentulus" with the same meaning. The term is common in biology in referring to animals without teeth (ducks?)

Suggested Usage: The concrete uses of this word are rather obvious, "Her biscuits are not for the weak or edentate." But why not abstract extensions like, "Has congress passed another edentate law restricting handguns?" Rather than threatening to knock someone's teeth out, try, "If you don't leave me alone I'll edentate you!" If that doesn't return everyone's sense of humor, nothing will.

Etymology: From the past participle ("edentatus") Latin edentare "to knock out the teeth." Latin dens, dentis "tooth" is akin to Sanskrit "dantas," Greek "odous," Gothic "tunthus," German "Zahn," and English "tooth," which seems to have lost the "n" somewhere along the way. The original PIE word was the present participle of *ed- "eat, bite": *ed-ent = "biting, biter." For a bigger slice of PIE, read "How is a Hippo like a Feather?" in our library.