Vocabulary and Etymology week 6

Doubting Thomas

A doubting Thomas is a skeptic who refuses to believe without direct personal experience—a reference to the Apostle Thomas, who refused to believe that the resurrected Jesus had appeared to the ten other apostles, until he could see and feel the wounds received by Jesus on the cross.

In art, the episode (formally called the Incredulity of Thomas) has been frequently depicted since at least the 5th century, with its depiction reflecting a range of theological interpretations.

Mythology

Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes is a book written by Edith Hamilton, published in 1942 by Little, Brown and Company. It has been reissued since then by several publishers. It retells stories of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology drawn from a variety of sources. The introduction includes commentary on the major classical poets used as sources, and on how changing cultures have led to changing characterizations of the deities and their myths. It is frequently used in high schools and colleges as an introductory text to ancient mythology and belief.

Cupid and Psyche

Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from Metamorphoses (also called The Golden Ass), written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (or Platonicus).It concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyche and Cupid or Amor, and their ultimate union in a sacred marriage. Although the only extended narrative from antiquity is that of Apuleius, Eros and Psyche appear in Greek art as early as the 4th century BC. The story's Neoplatonic elements and allusions to mystery religions accommodate multiple interpretations, and it has been analyzed as an allegory and in light of folktale, Märchen or fairy tale, and myth.

Ab-

• away from; off; outside of; opposite to

• Used to indicate an electromagnetic unit in the centimeter-gram-second system

• denoting a cgs unit of measurement in the electromagnetic system

Abdicate(v.)

(used without object)

• to renounce or relinquish a throne, right, power, claim, responsibility, or the like, especially in a formal manner.

(used with object)

• to give up or renounce (authority, duties, an office, etc.), especially in a voluntary, public, or formal manner.

Abolition(n.)

• the act of abolishing

• the state of begin abolished; annulment; abrogation.

• the legal prohibition and ending of slavery, especially of slavery of blacks in the U.S.

Dic-

• to say, declare

Diction(n.)

• style of speaking or writing as dependent upon choice of words.

• the accent, inflection, intonation, and speech-sound quality manifested by an individual speaker, usually judged in terms of prevailing standards of acceptability; enunciation.

Dictate

1.    (v.)

(used with object)

• to say or read (something) aloud for another person to transcribe or for a machine to record.

• to prescribe or lay down authoritatively or peremptorily; command unconditionally.

(used without object)

• to say or read aloud something to be written down by a person or recorded by a machine.

• to give orders

2.    (n.)

• an authoritative order or command.

• a guiding or governing principle, requirement, etc.

-ate

a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, its English Distribution paralleling that of Latin. The form originated as a suffix added to a-stem verb to form adjectives. The resulting form could also be used

independently as a noun and came to be used as a stem on which a verb could be formed. In English the use as a verbal suffix has been extended to stems of non-Latin origin.

Separate

1.(v.)

(used with object)

• to keep apart or divide, as by an intervening barrier or space

•to put, bring, or force apart; part

•to set apart; disconnect; dissociate

•to remove or sever from association, service, etc., especially legally or formally

•to sort, part, divide, or disperse (an assemblage, mass, compound, etc.), as into individual units, components, or elements

• to take by parting or dividing; extract (usually followed by from or out)

(used without object)

• to part company; withdraw from personal association (often followed by from):

• (of a married pair) to stop living together but without getting a divorce.

• to draw or come apart; become divided, disconnecte , or detached.

to become parted from a mass or compound:

• to take or go in different directions:

2.(adj.)

• detached, disconnected, or disjoined.

• unconnected; distinct; unique.

• being or standing apart; distant or dispersed

• existing or maintained independently

• individual or particular

• not shared; individual or private

• (sometimes initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to a church or other organization no longer associated with the original or parent organization.

3.(n.)

• Usually, separates. women's outer garments that may be worn in combination with a variety of others to make different ensembles, as matching and contrasting blouses, skirts, and sweaters.

• a bibliographical unit, as an article, chapter, or other portion of a larger work, printed from the same type but issued separately, sometimes with additional page.

Advocate

1.(v.)

(used with object)

• to speak or write in favor of; support or urge by argument; recommend publicly

(used without object)

• to act as an advocate

2.(n.)

• a person who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person, cause, etc. (usually followed by of):

• a person who pleads for or in behalf of another; intercessor.

• a person who pleads the cause of another in a court of law.

vocabulary

importune (v.) 

"harass with solicitation, demand persistently," 1520s, back-formation from importunity, or else from Middle French importuner, from Medieval Latin importunari "to make oneself troublesome," from Latin importunus "unfit, unfavorable, troublesome," literally "having no harbor" (thus "difficult to access"), from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" + port us "harbor". Related: Importuned; importuning. As an adjective from early 15c. Portunus was the Roman deity of harbours; hence Portunium "temple of Portunus."

haven (n.) 

late Old English hæfen "haven, port," from Old Norse höfn "haven, harbor" or directly from Proto-Germanic *hafno- (source also of Danish havn, Middle Low German havene, German Hafen), perhaps from PIE *kap- "to seize, hold contain" (see capable, and compare have) on notion of place that "holds" ships. But compare Old Norse haf, Old English hæf "sea" (see haff). Figurative sense of "refuge," now practically the only sense, is c. 1200.

subjugate (v.) 

early 15c., a back-formation from subjugation or else from Latin subiugatus, past participle of subiugare "to subjugate." Related: Subjugated; subjugating.

surreptitious (adj.) 

mid-15c., from Latin surrepticius "stolen, furtive, clandestine," from surreptus, past participle of surripere "seize secretly, take away, steal, plagiarize," from assimilated form of sub "from under" (hence, "secretly;" see sub-) + rapere "to snatch" (see rapid). Related: Surreptitiously.

incontrovertible (adj.) 

1640s, from in- (1) "not" + controvertible (see controvert). Related: Incontrovertibly; incontrovertibility.

eventuate (v.) 

1788, American English, from Latin eventus, past participle of eventire (see event). Related: Eventuated; eventuating.

subterranean (adj.) 

c. 1600, from Latin subterraneus "underground," from sub "under, beneath" (see sub-) + terra "earth, the ground" (see terrain) + -an.

emit (v.) 

1620s, from Latin emittere "send forth," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + mittere "to send" (see mission). Related: Emitted; emitting.

incredulous (adj.) 

"unbelieving," 1570s, from Latin incredulus "unbelieving, incredulous," from in- "not" (see in- (1)) + credulus (see credulous). Formerly also of religious beliefs. Related: Incredulously; incredulousness.

jeopardize (v.) 

1640s, from jeopardy + -ize. Related: Jeopardized; jeopardizing. As a verb, Middle English used simple jeopard (late 14c.), a back-formation from jeopardy.

      (v.) 

chiefly British English spelling of jeopardize; for suffix, see -ize. Related: Jeopardised; jeopardising.

permeate (v.) 

1650s, from Latin permeatus, past participle of permeare "to pass through" (see permeable). Related: Permeated; permeating.

propitious (adj.) 

mid-15c., from Anglo-French propicius, Old French propicius "gracious, favorable, useful" (12c., Modern French propice) and directly from Latin propitius "favorable, kind, gracious, well-disposed" (see propitiation). Earlier English form was propice, from Old French propice. Related: Propitiously.

curtail (v.) 

late 15c., from Middle French courtault "made short," from court "short" (Old French cort, from Latin curtus; see curt) + -ault pejorative suffix of Germanic origin. Originally curtal; used of horses with docked tails, which probably influenced the spelling in general use; curtal is retained in poetics to describe a "shortened" stanza or poem. Related: Curtailed; curtailing.

cryptic (adj.) 

1630s, "hidden, occult, mystical," from Late Latin crypticus, from Greek kryptikos "fit for concealing," from kryptos "hidden" (see crypt). Meaning "mysterious, enigmatic" is recorded from 1920. Related: Cryptically.

nettle (v.) 

c. 1400, "to beat with nettles," from nettle (n.). Figurative sense of "irritate, provoke" is from 1560s. Related: Nettled; nettling.

Nettled. Teized, provoked, out of temper. He or she has pissed on a nettle; said of one who is pevish or out of temper. [Grose, "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1785]

      (n.) 

stinging plant, Old English netele, from Proto-Germanic *natilon (source also of Old Saxon netila, Middle Dutch netele, Dutch netel, German Nessel, M.Da. nædlæ "nettle"), diminutive of *naton, perhaps from PIE root *ned- "to twist, knot" (see net (n.)). "[N]ettles or plants of closely related genera such as hemp were used as a source of fiber" [Watkins].

aspire (v.) 

"strive for," c. 1400, from Old French aspirer "aspire to; inspire; breathe, breathe on" (12c.), from Latin aspirare "to breathe upon, blow upon, to breathe," also, in transferred senses, "to be favorable to, assist; to climb up to, to endeavor to obtain, to reach to, to seek to reach; infuse," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit (n.)). The notion is of "panting with desire," or perhaps of rising smoke. Related: Aspired; aspiring.

inveigh (v.) 

formerly also enveigh, late 15c., "to introduce," from Latin invehere "to bring in, carry in, introduce," also "assault, assail," from in- "against" (see in- (1)) + vehere "to carry" (see vehicle). Meaning "to give vent to violent denunciation" is from 1520s, from a secondary sense in Latin (see invective). Related: Inveighed; inveighing.

overt (adj.) 

early 14c., "open to view," from Old French overt (Modern French ouvert), past participle of ovrir "to open," from Latin aperire "to open, uncover," from PIE compound *ap-wer-yo- from *ap- "off, away" (see abo-) + base *wer- (5) "to cover" (see weir). Compare Latin operire "to cover," from the same root with PIE prefix *op- "over;" and Lithuanian atveriu "open," uzveriu "shut."

relegate (v.) 

1590s "to banish, send into exile," from Latin relegatus, past participle of relegare "remove, dismiss, banish, send away, schedule, put aside," from re- "back" (see re-) + legare "send with a commission" (see legate). Meaning "place in a position of inferiority" is recorded from 1790. Related: Relegated; relegating; relegable.

supine (adj.) 

c. 1500, "lying on the back," from Latin supinus "bent backwards, thrown backwards, lying on the back," figuratively "inactive, indolent," from PIE *(s)up- (see sub-). The grammatical use for "Latin verbal noun formed from the past participle stem" (mid-15c.) is from Late Latin supinum verbum "supine verb," perhaps so called because, though furnished with a noun case ending, it "falls back" on the verb. Related: Supinely.

raze (v.) 

1540s, alteration of racen "pull or knock down" (a building or town), from earlier rasen (14c.) "to scratch, slash, scrape, erase," from Old French raser "to scrape, shave" (see rase). Related: Razed; razing.mammoth (n.) 

1706, from Russian mammot', probably from Ostyak, a Finno-Ugric language of northern Russia (compare Finnish maa "earth"). Because the remains were dug from the earth, the animal was believed to root like a mole. As an adjective, "gigantic," from 1802; in this sense "the word appears to be originally American" [Thornton, "American Glossary"], and its first uses are in derogatory accounts of the cheese wheel, more than 4 feet in diameter, sent to President Jefferson by the ladies of the Baptist congregation in Cheshire, Massachusetts, as a present, engraved with the motto "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." Federalist editors mocked the affair, and called up the word mammoth (known from Peale's exhibition) to characterize it.

havoc (n.) 

early 15c., from the expression cry havoc "give the signal to pillage" (Anglo-French crier havok, late 14c.). Havok, the signal to soldiers to seize plunder, is from Old French havot "pillaging, looting" (in crier havot), which is related to haver "to seize, grasp," hef "hook," probably from a Germanic source (see hawk (n.)), or from Latin habere "to have, possess." General sense of "devastation" first recorded late 15c.

incisive (adj.) 

early 15c., inscisif, "slashing, cutting with a sharp edge," from Old French incisif (medical) "invasive, effective," and directly from Medieval Latin incisivus, from Latin incis-, past participle stem of incidere "to cut into" (see incision). Originally literal; figurative sense of "mentally acute, sharply and clearly expressive" first recorded 1850 as a borrowing from French. Related: Incisively; incisiveness.

scurry (v.) 

1810, perhaps from hurry-scurry (1732), a reduplication of hurry (v.). As a noun, 1823, from the verb.

lethal (adj.) 

"causing or resulting in death," 1580s, from Late Latin lethalis, alteration of Latin letalis "deadly, fatal," from lethum/letum "death," a word of uncertain origin. According to de Vaan, from Proto-Italic *leto-, which is perhaps a noun from a PIE past participle of a verb meaning "let, let go," on the notion of death as "a letting go." If so, related to Old Church Slavonic leto "summer, year" (from notion of "going"), Russian leto "summer," (pl.) "age, years;" Russian let' (archaic) "it is possible, allowed;" Old Norse lað, Old English læð "land," Gothic unleds "poor." The form altered in Late Latin by association with lethes hydor "water of oblivion" in Hades in Greek mythology, from Greek lethe "forgetfulness" (see Lethe).

precipitate (v.) 

"to hurl or fling down," 1520s, a back formation from precipitation or else from Latin praecipitatus, past participle of praecipitare "to throw or dive headlong," from praeceps "steep, headlong, headfirst" (see precipice). Meaning "to cause to happen, hurry the beginning of" is recorded from 1620s. Chemical sense is from 1620s; meteorological sense first attested 1863. Related: Precipitated; precipitating.

stereotype (v.) 

1804, "to cast a stereotype plate," from stereotype (n.). From 1819 in the figurative sense "fix firmly or unchangeably." By 1953 as "assign preconceived and oversimplified notion of characteristics typical of a person or group." Related: Stereotyped; stereotyping.

       (n.) 

1798, "method of printing from a plate," from French stéréotype (adj.) "printed by means of a solid plate of type," from Greek stereos "solid" (see stereo-) + French type "type" (see type (n.)). Meaning "a stereotype plate" is from 1817. Meaning "image perpetuated without change" is first recorded 1850, from the verb in this sense. Meaning "preconceived and oversimplified notion of characteristics typical of a person or group" is recorded from 1922.

sinecure (n.) 

1660s, "church benefice with an emolument but without parish duties," from Medieval Latin beneficium sine cura "benefice without care" (of souls), from Latin sine "without" (see sans) + cura, ablative singular of cura "care".

stentorian (adj.) 

"of powerful voice," c. 1600, from Stentor, legendary Greek herald in the Trojan War, whose voice (described in the "Iliad") was as loud as 50 men. His name is from Greek stenein "groan, moan," from PIE imitative root *(s)ten-, source of Old English þunor "thunder."

liquidation (n.) 

1570s, in law, of debts, noun of action from past participle stem of Late Latin liquidare "melt, make liquid" (see liquidate). Originally as a legal term in reference to assets; of companies going out of business, 1869; of inconvenient groups of persons, "a killing, a wiping out," 1925 in communist writings. In O. Henry, "the act of taking a drink of liquor."

culpable (adj.) 

late 13c., coupable, from Old French coupable (12c., Modern French coupable), from Latin culpabilis "worthy of blame," from culpare "to blame," from culpa "crime, fault, blame, guilt, error." English (and for a time French) restored the first Latin -l- in later Middle Ages.

recant (v.) 

1530s, from Latin recantare "recall, revoke," from re- "back" (see re-) + cantare "to chant" (see chant (v.)). A word from the Reformation. Loan-translation of Greek palinoidein "recant," from palin "back" + oeidein "to sing." Related: Recanted; recanting.

accomplice (n.) 

"associate in crime," 1580s, an unetymological extension of earlier complice "an associate or confederate" (early 15c.), from Old French complice "a confederate, partner" (not in a criminal sense), from Late Latin complicem (nominative complex) "partner, confederate," from Latin complicare "to involve," literally "fold together" (see complicate). Altered perhaps on model of accomplish, etc., or by assimilation of the indefinite article in a complice.

preclude (v.) 

1610s, from Latin praecludere "to close, shut off; hinder, impede," from prae "before, ahead" (see pre-) + claudere "to shut" (see close (v.)). Related: Precluded; precluding.

alleged (adj.) 

mid-15c., "quoted," past participle adjective from allege. Attested from 1610s in sense of "brought forth in court;" 1670s as "asserted but not proved."

paragon (n.) 

1540s, from Middle French paragon "a model, pattern of excellence" (15c., Modern French parangon), from Italian paragone, originally "touchstone to test gold" (early 14c.), from paragonare "to test on a touchstone, compare," from Greek parakonan "to sharpen, whet," from para- "on the side" (see para- (1)) + akone "whetstone," from PIE root *ak- "be sharp, be pointed" (see acro-).

controversial (adj.) 

1580s, from Late Latin controversialis "pertaining to controversy," from Latin controversia (see controversy).

asperity (n.) 

c. 1200, asprete "hardship, harshness of feelings," a figurative use, from Old French asperité "difficulty, painful situation, harsh treatment" (12c., Modern French âpreté), from Latin asperitatem (nominative asperitas) "roughness," from asper "rough, harsh," which is of unknown origin; in Latin used also of sour wine, bad weather, and hard times. Figurative meaning "harshness of feeling" in English is attested from early 15c.

habitat (n.) 

"area or region where a plant or animal naturally grows or lives," 1762, originally a technical term in Latin texts on English flora and fauna, literally "it inhabits," third person singular present indicative of habitare "to live, inhabit, dwell," frequentative of habere "to have, to hold, possess" (see habit (n.)). This was the Modern Latin word that began the part of the scientific description of a plant or animal species that told its locality. General sense of "dwelling place" is first attested 1854.

gregarious (adj.) 

1660s, "disposed to live in flocks" (of animals), from Latin gregarius "pertaining to a flock; of the herd, of the common sort, common," from grex (genitive gregis) "flock, herd," from PIE *gre-g-, reduplicated form of root *ger- (1) "to gather together, assemble" (source also of Sanskrit gramah "heap, troop;" Greek ageirein "to assemble," agora "assembly;" Latin gremium "bosom, lap;" Old Church Slavonic grusti "handful," gramota "heap;" Lithuanian gurgulys "chaos, confusion," gurguole "crowd, mass"). Of persons, "sociable" first recorded 1789. Related: Gregariously; gregariousness.

prolific (adj.) 

1640s, from French prolifique (16c.), from Medieval Latin prolificus, from Latin proles "offspring" + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Latin proles is contracted from *pro-oles, from PIE *pro-al-, from *pro- "forth" (see pro-) + *al- "to grow, nourish" (see old). Related: Prolifical (c. 1600).

Prolific is in common use, but to make a satisfactory noun from it has passed the wit of man. [Fowler]

antithesis (n.) 

1520s, from Late Latin antithesis, from Greek antithesis "opposition, resistance," literally "a placing against," also a term in logic and rhetoric, noun of action from antitithenai "to set against, oppose," a term in logic, from anti "against" (see anti-) + tithenai "to put, place" (see theme).

      (adj.) 

"containing an antithesis," c. 1600, from Greek antithetikos "setting in opposition," from antithetos "placed in opposition," from antithesis (see antithesis).coterie (n.) 

1738, from French coterie "circle of acquaintances," originally in Middle French an organization of peasants holding land from a feudal lord (14c.), from cotier "tenant of a cote" (see cottage).

embellish (v.) 

mid-14c., "to render beautiful," from Old French embelliss-, stem of embellir "make beautiful, ornament," from assimilated form of en- (see en- (1)) + bel "beautiful," from Latin bellus "handsome, pretty, fine" (see bene-). Meaning "dress up (a narration) with fictitious matter" is from mid-15c. Related: Embellished; embellishing.