Word of the Day: JUNCTURE
Crux or crossroad
juncture (noun) - the line or point where two things join; a joint; also a turning point in time [juhngk-cher]
BREAKDOWN: JUNC- (to join) + -TURE (act or state)
junctural means of or pertaining to break between sounds; happening at a critical time
“No matter what you’ve done up to this point, you better still be a student... Learn from everyone and everything. From the people you beat, and the people who beat you, from the people you dislike, even from your supposed enemies. At every step and every juncture in life, there is the opportunity to learn.” —Ryan Holiday
The JUNC- root is such a productive one — junction, conjunction, adjunct, disjunction — all built around that core idea of joining. What I find interesting is how 'juncture' evolved to mean both a physical connection point AND a critical moment in time. That semantic leap from 'where things meet' to 'when paths diverge' says something about how we conceptualize decisions — as if standing at a crossroads is literally being at a joint in the road.