Word of the Day for Saturday September 17, 2005 xenophobia \ZEN-uh-FOE-bee-uh\, noun: Fear or hatred of strangers, people from other countries, or of anything that is strange or foreign. After calling for peace in 61 languages and beseeching the world to end racism and xenophobia, the pope made a surprise announcement. --"Will the Next Pope Be Catholic?" [1]SF Weekly, April 26, 2000 In Europe today, it is xenophobia and the political manipulation of fear of foreigners that pose the greatest threat to democracy, or at least to the quality of democracy. --Kofi Annan, "Democracy: An international issue," UN Chronicle, June-August, 2001 The news, the incidents and accidents of everyday life, can be loaded with political or ethnic significance liable to unleash strong, often negative feelings, such as racism, chauvinism, the fear-hatred of the foreigner or, xenophobia. --Pierre Bourdieu, [2]On Television In the embattled atmosphere of wartime France, [3]Apollinaire's quenchless appetite for the new was not widely shared. Xenophobia reigned. --Ruth Brandon, [4]Surreal Lives: The Surrealists 1917-1945 _________________________________________________________ The word xenophobia was formed from the Greek elements xenos "guest, stranger, foreigner" + phobos "fear." References 1. http://www.sfweekly.com/ 2. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565845129/ref=nosim/lexico 3. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Guillaume%20Apollinaire 4. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/015653892X/ref=nosim/lexico Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=xenophobia