Tag Archives: Etymology

Isolated

ˈaɪsəleɪtɪd Isolated: placed or standing apart or alone; detached or separate from other things or persons; unconnected with anything else; solitary To protect others, you must stay at home if you or someone you live with has symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19). This is called self-isolation. UK National Health Service, Self-Isolation Advice (2020) During the Current … Continue reading Isolated

Latin Plurals: Nouns Ending In -um

  DESIDERATA Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Those are the opening lines of Desiderata, by Max Ehrmann, originally written in 1927. The text has a rather complicated history of publication, and … Continue reading Latin Plurals: Nouns Ending In -um

Corona

kɒˈrəʊnə Corona: a circular structure, or spiked circular structure, surrounding a central core Corona is the Latin word for a crown. And, after passing through French, it’s the origin of our word crown. In its original form, it’s used to designate all sorts of crown-like structures. The spiky protrusions from the capsule of the coronavirus … Continue reading Corona

Pettifoggery, etc

I think it is appropriate for me to admonish both the House managers and the President’s counsel in equal terms to remember that they are addressing the world’s greatest deliberative body. One reason it has earned that title is because its members avoid speaking in a manner and using language that is not conducive to … Continue reading Pettifoggery, etc

Apostrophe: Part 2

əˈpɒstrəfiː apostrophe: 1) A rhetorical device in which the speaker breaks off from discourse in order to address a person or thing, absent or present; 2) The sign ’, used to indicate omitted letters, or the possessive case In my previous post about apostrophes, I wrote about the use of the punctuation mark, and mentioned … Continue reading Apostrophe: Part 2

Impeachment

ɪmˈpiːtʃmənt impeachment: The accusation and prosecution of a person for treason or other high crime or misdemeanour before a competent tribunal; in Great Britain, the judicial process by which a person may be tried before the House of Lords at the instigation of the House of Commons; in the U.S.A., a similar process in which … Continue reading Impeachment

Manger

ˈmeɪndʒə(r) manger: A box or trough in a stable or byre, from which horses and cattle eat.  Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head. The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay, The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. Nineteenth-century … Continue reading Manger

Prorogation

prɒrəʊˈɡeɪʃən prorogation: the act of discontinuing the meetings of an assembly without dissolving it For present purposes, the relevant limit on the power to prorogue is this: that a decision to prorogue (or advise the monarch to prorogue) will be unlawful if the prorogation has the effect of frustrating or preventing, without reasonable justification, the … Continue reading Prorogation

Gaudeamus

ɡɔːdiːˈeɪməs gaudeamus: merry-making by college students   Turn on the spigot Pour the beer and swig it And gaudeamus igit- (uh) -tur Tom Lehrer “Bright College Days” (1959)* Gaudeamus is the first-person plural present active subjunctive of the Latin verb gaudeo, “to rejoice”—so it means “let us rejoice”. It’s the first word of a thirteenth-century … Continue reading Gaudeamus

Ultima Thule: Part 2

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Advertising slogan for the Apple II computer (1977), often hilariously misattributed to Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)   In my previous post about ultima Thule, I traced the strange history of the Greek name Thule, and how it came to be associated with the Latin adjective ultima, meaning “far” or “farthest”. … Continue reading Ultima Thule: Part 2