Q. Would you please tell me why the word "agregious" does not appear in dictionaries? When I was a juror many years ago, the judge used that word in explaining a point of law to us. I went to look up the definition before using the word in an e-mail the other day, and it does not appear in any dictionary I searched, but googling the word yielded many cases where that word was used.

A. It is likely that the hits you found on Google were misspellings based on the mispronunciation of the word. Sometimes the word is pronounced or misheard as beginning with an "a" sound; but in fact, egregious begins with an \i\ sound and is spelled with an "e." The English language can be quite confusing sometimes when it comes to the sound of the word and how it is spelled.

Q. In a copy of your dictionary I have, it says the definition of dilemma can be "any serious problem." I have been told for many years that dilemma only means when you have two choices, and both of them would result in something bad. Have I been told wrong?

A. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, dilemma first appeared in the 16th century as a term in rhetoric for an argument that presents two alternatives to an opponent, both of which are conclusive against the opponent (referred to as the "horns of the dilemma"). By the end of the 16th century, the word was being applied not only to arguments but to choices between alternative actions. A third sense arose in the 17th century which was used to describe situations in which a person is faced with alternatives, each of which is likely to be unsatisfactory. By the 20th century, however, the usage of dilemma broadened to include situations in which no alternatives were expressed or implied. This sense, which has been the prevailing usage since the early 20th century, is roughly synonymous with "problem" or "predicament." Usage evidence indicates that this sense is widely accepted despite the arguments of some who object to it.

Q. Does luxurious really mean "lecherous"?!

A. Although it is now mostly used to connote abundance or indulgence, the word luxurious did indeed carry the meaning of "lecherous" when it was first used in the English language in the 14th century. The related noun luxury was used to mean "lechery" or "lust" and although that sense is now archaic, the use of luxurious to connote "lechery" persists (albeit rarely) in modern usage.