Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 11, 2023 is: injunction \in-JUNK-shun\ noun

Injunction refers to an order from a court of law that says something must be done or must not be done.

// The group has obtained an injunction to prevent the demolition of the building.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/injunction)

Examples:

“While a district court rejected the group's request for an emergency injunction at the end of June, the Fifth Circuit obliged—blocking the new rule from being carried out for the time being.” — Ayelet Sheffey, Business Insider, 7 Aug. 2023

Did you know?

Injunction, injunction, what’s your function? When it first joined the English language in the 1400s, injunction referred to an authoritative command, and in the following century it developed a legal second sense applying specifically to a court order. Both of these meanings are still in use. Injunction ultimately comes from the Latin verb injungere (“to enjoin,” i.e., to issue an authoritative command or order), which in turn is based on jungere, meaning “to join”: it is joined as a jungere descendant by several words including [junction](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/junction), [conjunction](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conjunction), [enjoin](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enjoin), and [join](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/join).