Intended to strongly encourage or persuade someone to do something, often with earnest appeals or passionate language.
From Latin exhortatorius, derived from exhortari (to urge out), combining ex- (out) and hortari (to encourage). The -ory suffix indicates a function or quality.
This word captures the specific tone of speeches and sermons throughout history—think of Martin Luther King Jr.'s passionate rhetoric or a coach's locker room speech. The root hortari is actually related to 'horticulture,' so both come from the idea of 'tending' or 'nurturing.'
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