English Vocabulary and Etymology 2016/12/29(Week16)

▲In God We Trust

"In God We Trust" is the official motto of the United States. It was adopted as the nation's motto in 1956 as an alternative or replacement to the unofficial motto of E pluribus unum, which was adopted when the Great Seal of the United States was created and adopted in 1782. "In God We Trust" first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864 and has appeared on paper currency since 1957. This phrase was first used on paper money in 1957, when it appeared on the one-dollar silver certificate. The first paper currency bearing the phrase entered circulation on October 1, 1957.

▲Manifest destiny

In the 19th century, manifest destiny was a widely held belief in the United States that its settlers were destined to expand across North America. There are three basic themes to manifest destiny:

• The special virtues of the American people and their institutions
• The mission of the United States to redeem and remake the west in the image of agrarian America
• An irresistible destiny to accomplish this essential duty

▲Stephen Foster

Stephen Collins Foster was an American songwriter primarily known for his parlor and minstrel music. Foster wrote over 200 songs; among his best-known are "Oh! Susanna", "Hard Times Come Again No More" , "Camptown Races", "Old Folks at Home" ("Swanee River"), "My Old Kentucky Home", "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair", "Old Black Joe", and "Beautiful Dreamer". Many of his compositions remain popular more than 150 years after he wrote them. His compositions are thought to be autobiographical. He has been identified as "the most famous songwriter of the nineteenth century" and may be the most recognizable American composer in other countries. His compositions are sometimes referred to as "childhood songs" because they have been included in the music curriculum of early education. Most of his handwritten music manuscripts are lost, but copies printed by publishers of his day can be found in various collections.

▲Student loan

A student loan is a type of loan designed to help students pay for post-secondary education and the associated fees, such as tuition, books and supplies, and living expenses. It may differ from other types of loans in that the interest rate may be substantially lower and the repayment schedule may be deferred while the student is still in school. It also differs in many countries in the strict laws regulating renegotiating and bankruptcy. This article highlights the differences of the student loan system in several major countries.

▲George Eliot

Mary Ann Evans was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She is the author of seven novels, including Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Felix Holt, the Radical (1866), Middlemarch (1871–72), and Daniel Deronda (1876), most of which are set in provincial England and known for their realism and psychological insight.

▲Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published on 16 October 1847, by Smith, Elder & Co. of London, England, under the pen name "Currer Bell." The first American edition was published the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York.

▲Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair

"Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" is a parlor song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864). It was published by Firth, Pond & Co. of New York in 1854. Foster wrote the song with his estranged wife Jane McDowell in mind. The lyrics allude to a permanent separation.

This song was originally written as "Jennie With The Light Brown

Hair", but by the time it was officially published in 1854, the name

had changed to "Jeanie" with only one "n". Somewhere along the way,

the other "n" was added and her name became "Jeannie".

⬦Lyrics

I dream of Jeannie with the light brown hair

Borne, like a vapor, on the summer air

I see her tripping where the bright streams play

Happy as the daisies that dance on her way

Many were the wild notes her merry voice would pour

Many were the blithe birds that warbled them o'er

Oh! I dream of Jeannie with the light brown hair

Floating, like a vapor, on the soft, summer air

I long for Jeannie with the day dawn smile

Radiant in gladness, warm with winning guile

I hear her melodies, like joys gone by

Sighing round my heart o'er the fond hopes that die

Sighing like the night wind and sobbing like the rain

Wailing for the lost one that comes not again

Oh! I long for Jeannie, and my heart bows low

Never more to find her where the bright waters flow

I sigh for Jeannie, but her light form strayed

Far from the fond hearts round her native glade

Her smiles have vanished and her sweet songs flown

Flitting like the dreams that have cheered us and gone

Now the nodding wild flow'rs may wither on the shore

While her gentle fingers will cull them no more

Oh! I sigh for Jeannie with the light brown hair

Floating like a vapor, on the soft summer air

▲Prefix

⬥mal- bad, wrong

For example, malicious, malign

⬥cap- hold, take, head

For example, capital, captain

⬥mort- dead

For example, mortality, mortal

▲Vocabulary

☆Week40, Week41, Week42

✪ rhetoric (n.)

early 14c., from Old French rethorique, from Latin rhetorice, from Greek rhetorike techne "art of an orator," from rhetor (genitive rhetoros) "speaker, orator, teacher of rhetoric," related to rhesis "speech," rhema "word, phrase, verb," literally "that which is spoken," from PIE *wre-tor-, from root *were- (3) "to speak" (source also of Old English word, Latin verbum, Greek eirein "to say;" see verb).

rhetorical (adj.) Look up rhetorical at Dictionary.commid-15c., "eloquent," from Latin rhetoricus, from Greek rhetorikos "oratorical, rhetorical; skilled in speaking," from rhetor "orator" (see rhetoric). Meaning "pertaining to rhetoric" is from 1520s. Rhetorical question is from 1670s. Related: Rhetorically.

rhetorician (n.) Look up rhetorician at Dictionary.comearly 15c., Old French rethoricien, from rethorique (see rhetoric). An Old English word for one was wordsawere "word-sower."

✪Clique (n.)

Look up clique at Dictionary.com1711, "a party of persons; a small set, especially one associating for exclusivity," from obsolete French clique, originally (14c.) "a sharp noise," also "latch, bolt of a door," from Old French cliquer "click, clatter, crackle, clink," 13c., echoic. Apparently this word was at one time treated in French as the equivalent of claque (q.v.) and partook of that word's theatrical sense.

cliquish (adj.) Look up cliquish at Dictionary.com1839, from clique + -ish. Related: Cliquishly; cliquishness.

✪Extol(v.)

Look up extol at Dictionary.comalso extoll, c. 1400, "to lift up," from Latin extollere "to place on high, raise, elevate," figuratively "to exalt, praise," from ex "up" (see ex-) + tollere "to raise," from PIE *tele- "to bear, carry," "with derivatives referring to measured weights and thence money and payment" [Watkins].

 Cognates include Greek talantos "bearing, suffering," tolman "to carry, bear," telamon "broad strap for bearing something," talenton "a balance, pair of scales," Atlas "the 'Bearer' of Heaven;" Lithuanian tiltas "bridge;" Sanskrit tula "balance," tulayati "lifts up, weighs;" Latin tolerare "to bear, support," perhaps also latus "borne;" Old English þolian "to endure;" Armenian tolum "I allow." Figurative sense of "praise highly" in English is first attested c. 1500. Related: Extolled; extolling.

✪Mentor (n.)(v.)

1888, from mentor (n.). Related: Mentored; mentoring.

"wise adviser," 1750, from Greek Mentor, friend of Odysseus and adviser of Telemachus (but often actually Athene in disguise) in the "Odyssey," perhaps ultimately meaning "adviser," because the name appears to be an agent noun of mentos "intent, purpose, spirit, passion" from PIE *mon-eyo- (source also of Sanskrit man-tar- "one who thinks," Latin mon-i-tor "one who admonishes"), causative form of root *men- (1) "to think" (see mind (n.)). The general use of the word probably is via later popular romances, in which Mentor played a larger part than he does in Homer.

✪vilify(v.)

Look up vilify at Dictionary.commid-15c., "to lower in worth or value," from Late Latin vilificare "to make cheap or base; to esteem of little value," from Latin vilis "cheap, base" (see vile) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Meaning "to slander, speak evil of" is first recorded 1590s. Related: Vilified, vilifying.

 vilification (n.) Look up vilification at Dictionary.com1620s, from Medieval Latin vilificationem (nominative vilificatio), noun of action from past participle stem of Late Latin vilificare (see vilify).

✪elucidate (v.)

Look up elucidate at Dictionary.com1560s, perhaps via Middle French élucider (15c.) or directly from Late Latin elucidatus, past participle of elucidare "make light or clear," from assimilated form of ex "out, away" (see ex-) + lucidus "clear" (see lucid). Related: Elucidated; elucidates; elucidating.

 elucidation (n.) Look up elucidation at Dictionary.com1560s, "act of making intelligible," noun of action from elucidate. As "an explanation" from 1660s.

✪vapid (adj.)

1650s, "flat, insipid" (of drinks), from Latin vapidus "flat, insipid," literally "that has exhaled its vapor," related to vappa "stale wine," and probably to vapor "vapor." Applied from 1758 to talk and writing deemed dull and lifeless. Related: Vapidly; vapidness.

vapidity (n.)

1721, from vapid + -ity.

✪infatuate (v.)

1530s, "turn (something) to foolishness, frustrate by making foolish," from Latin infatuatus, past participle of infatuare "make a fool of," from in- "in" (see in- (2)) + fatuus "foolish" (see fatuous). Specific sense of "inspire (in someone) a foolish passion beyond control of reason" is from 1620s. Related: Infatuated; infatuating.

An infatuated person is so possessed by a misleading idea or passion that his thoughts and conduct are controlled by it and turned into folly. [Century Dictionary]

✪contort (v.)

early 15c., from Latin contortus, past participle of contorquere "to whirl, twist together," from com "with, together," here perhaps intensive (see com-) + torquere "to twist" (see torque (n.)). Related: Contorted; contorting.

contortion (n.)

early 15c., from Middle French contorsion or directly from Latin contortionem (nominative contorsio), noun of action from past participle stem of contorquere (see contort).contortionist (n.)1841, from contortion + -ist.

✪repertoire (n.)

"a stock of plays, songs, etc., which a performer or company has studied and is ready to perform," 1847, from French répertoire, literally "index, list" (14c.), from Late Latin repertorium "inventory" (see repertory)repertory (n.)1550s, "an index, list, catalogue," from Late Latin repertorium "inventory, list," from Latin repertus, past participle of reperire "to find, get, invent," from re-, intensive prefix (see re-), + parire, archaic form of paerere "produce, bring forth," from PIE root *pere- (1) "to bring forth" (see pare). Meaning "list of performances" is first recorded 1845, from similar use of French repertoire; repertory theater is attested from 1896. Related: Repertorial. 

✪imperceptible (adj.)

early 15c., from Middle French imperceptible (15c.), from Medieval Latin imperceptibilis, from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + perceptibilis (see perceptible). Related: Imperceptibly; imperceptibility. OED marks imperceivable (1610s) as "Now rare."

imperceptibility (n.)

1670s, from imperceptible + -ity.

✪pall (n.)

Old English pæll "rich cloth or cloak, purple robe, altar cloth," from Latin pallium "cloak, coverlet, covering," in Tertullian, the garment worn by Christians instead of the Roman toga; related to pallo "robe, cloak," palla "long upper garment of Roman women," perhaps from the root of pellis "skin." Notion of "cloth spread over a coffin" (mid-15c.) led to figurative sense of "dark, gloomy mood" (1742).

✪satiety (n.)

1530s, from Middle French satiété, from Latin satietatem (nominative satietas) "abundance, sufficiency, fullness," from satis "enough," from PIE root *sa- "to satisfy" (see sad).

✪intrinsic (adj.)

late 15c., "interior, inward, internal," from Middle French intrinsèque "inner" (14c.), from Medieval Latin intrinsecus "interior, internal," from Latin intrinsecus (adv.) "inwardly, on the inside," from intra "within" (see intra-) + secus "along, alongside," from PIE *sekw-os- "following," suffixed form of root *sekw- (1) "to follow" (see sequel).
The form in English was conformed to words in -ic by 18c. Meaning "belonging to the nature of a thing" is from 1640s. Related: Intrinsical; intrinsically.

✪potpourri (n.)

also pot-pourri, 1610s, "mixed meats served in a stew," from French pot pourri "stew," literally "rotten pot" (loan-translation of Spanish olla podrida), from pourri, past participle of pourrir "to rot," from Vulgar Latin *putrire, from Latin putrescere "grow rotten" (see putrescent). Notion of "medley" led to meaning "mixture of dried flowers and spices," first recorded in English 1749. Figurative sense (originally in music) of "miscellaneous collection" is recorded from 1855.

✪sanction (v.)

1778, "confirm by sanction, make valid or binding;" 1797 as "to permit authoritatively;" from sanction (n.). Seemingly contradictory meaning "impose a penalty on" is from 1956 but is rooted in an old legalistic sense of the noun. Related: Sanctioned; sanctioning.

✪insidious (adj.)

1540s, from Middle French insidieux "insidious" (15c.) or directly from Latin insidiosus "deceitful, cunning, artful, treacherous," from insidiae (plural) "plot, snare, ambush," from insidere "sit on, occupy," from in- "in" (see in- (2)) + sedere "to sit" (see sedentary). Figurative, usually with a suggestion of lying in wait and the intent to entrap. Related: Insidiously; insidiousness.

✪propriety (n.)

mid-15c., "proper character, disposition," from Old French proprieté "individuality, peculiarity; property" (12c.), from Latin proprietatem (nominative proprietas) "appropriateness," also "ownership" (see property). Meaning "fitness, appropriateness" is attested from 1610s; sense of "conformity to good manners" is from 1782.

property (n.)

c. 1300, properte, "nature, quality," later "possession, thing owned" (early 14c., a sense rare before 17c.), from an Anglo-French modification of Old French propriete "individuality, peculiarity; property" (12c., Modern French propreté; see propriety), from Latin proprietatem (nominative proprietas) "ownership, a property, propriety, quality," literally "special character" (a loan-translation of Greek idioma), noun of quality from proprius "one's own, special" (see proper). For "possessions, private property" Middle English sometimes used proper goods. Hot property "sensation, a success" is from 1947 in "Billboard" stories.

✪proffer (v.)

"to offer," late 13c., from Anglo-French profrier (mid-13c.), Old French poroffrir (11c.), from por- "forth" (from Latin pro; see pro-) + offrir "to offer," from Latin offerre (see offer (v.)). Related: Proffered; proffering. As a noun from late 14c.

✪spate (n.)

early 15c., originally Scottish and northern English, "a sudden flood, especially one caused by heavy rains or a snowmelt," of unknown origin. Perhaps from Old French espoit "flood," from Dutch spuiten "to flow, spout;" related to spout (v.). Figurative sense of "unusual quantity" is attested from 1610s.

✪shibboleth (n.)

late 14c., the Hebrew word shibboleth, meaning "flood, stream," also "ear of corn;" in Judges xii.4-6. It was the password used by the Gileadites to distinguish their own men from fleeing Ephraimites, because Ephraimites could not pronounce the -sh- sound. Hence the figurative sense of "watchword" (first recorded 1630s), which evolved by 1862 to "outmoded slogan still adhered to." A similar test-word was cicera "chick pease," used by the Italians to identify the French (who could not pronounce it correctly) during the massacre called the Sicilian Vespers (1282).

bogus

1838, "counterfeit money, spurious coin," American English, apparently from a slang word applied (according to some sources first in Ohio in 1827) to a counterfeiter's apparatus.One bogus or machine impressing dies on the coin, with a number of dies, engraving tools, bank bill paper, spurious coin, &c. &c. making in all a large wagon load, was taken into possession by the attorney general of Lower Canada. [Niles' Register, Sept. 7, 1833, quoting from Concord, New Hampshire, "Statesman," Aug. 24]Some trace this to tantrabobus, also tantrabogus, a late 18c. colloquial Vermont word for any odd-looking object, in later 19c. use "the devil," which might be connected to tantarabobs, recorded as a Devonshire name for the devil. Others trace it to the same source as bogey (n.1).

✪substantiate (v.)1650s, "to make real, to give substance to," from Modern Latin substantiatus, past participle of substantiare, from Latin substantia "being, essence, material" (see substance). Meaning "to demonstrate or prove" is attested from 1803. Related: Substantiated; substantiating.

substantiation (n.)1760, "embodiment;" 1832, "the making good of a statement, the act of proving," noun of action from substantiate.

unsubstantiated (adj.)1775, from un- (1) "not" + past participle of substantiate (v.).

✪nutritive (adj.)

late 14c., from Old French nutritif and directly from Medieval Latin nutritivus "nourishing," from past participle stem of Latin nutrire "to nourish" (see nourish).

✪raucous (adj.)

1769, from Latin raucus "hoarse" (also source of French rauque, Spanish ronco, Italian rauco), related to ravus "hoarse," from PIE echoic base *reu- "make hoarse cries" (source also of Sanskrit rayati "barks," ravati "roars;" Greek oryesthai "to howl, roar;" Latin racco "a roar;" Old Church Slavonic rjevo "I roar;" Lithuanian rekti "roar;" Old English rarian "to wail, bellow"). Middle English had rauc in the same sense, from the same source.

✪quandary (n.)

"state of perplexity," 1570s, of unknown origin, perhaps a quasi-Latinism based on Latin quando "when? at what time?; at the time that, inasmuch," pronominal adverb of time, related to qui "who" (see who). Originally accented on the second syllable.

✪callous (adj.)

c. 1400, "hardened," in the physical sense, from Latin callosus "thick-skinned," from callus, callum "hard skin" (see callus). The figurative sense of "unfeeling" appeared in English by 1670s. Related: Callously; callousness.

✪expedient (adj.)

late 14c., "advantageous, fit, proper to a purpose," from Old French expedient "useful, beneficial" (14c.) or directly from Latin expedientem (nominative expediens) "beneficial," present participle of expedire "make fit or ready, prepare" (see expedite). The noun meaning "a device adopted in an exigency, that which serves to advance a desired result" is from 1650s. Related: Expediential; expedientially (both 19c.).

Expedient, contrivance, and device indicate artificial means of escape from difficulty or embarrassment; resource indicates natural means or something possessed; resort and shift may indicate either. [Century Dictionary]

✪inexpedient (adj.)

"not suitable to the purpose or circumstances," c. 1600, from in- (1) "not, opposite of" + expedient. Related: Inexpedience; inexpediently.

 ✪negligible (adj.)

"capable of being neglected," 1819, from negligence + -ible. Related: Negligibly; negligibility.

✪blase (adj.)

"bored from overindulgence," 1819, from French blasé, past participle of blaser "to satiate" (17c.), which is of unknown origin. Perhaps from Dutch blazen "to blow" (related to English blast), with a sense of "puffed up under the effects of drinking." 

✪ennui (n.)

1660s as a French word in English; nativized by 1758; from French ennui, from Old French enui "annoyance" (13c.), back-formation from enuier (see annoy). Hence ennuyé (adj.) "afflicted with ennui," and thence ennuyée (n.) for a woman so afflicted.

So far as frequency of use is concerned, the word might be regarded as fully naturalized; but the pronunciation has not been anglicized, there being in fact no Eng. analogy which could serve as a guide. [OED]

✪comely (adj.)

"beautiful, handsome," c. 1400, probably from Old English cymlic "lovely, splendid, finely made," from cyme "exquisite, glorious, delicate," from West Germanic *kumi- "delicate, feeble" (source also of Old High German chumo "with difficulty," chumig "weak, delicate;" German kaum "hardly, scarcely"). Or perhaps the modern word is from Middle English bicumelic (c. 1200) "suitable, exquisite," literally "becomely" (compare becoming).

✪renetic (adj.)

late 14c., frenetik, "temporarily deranged, delirious, crazed," from Old French frenetike "mad, crazy" (13c.), from Latin phreneticus "delirious," alteration of Greek phrenitikos, from phrenitis "frenzy," literally "inflammation of the brain," from phren "mind, reason," also "diaphragm" (see phreno-) + -itis "inflammation." The classical ph- sometimes was restored from mid-16c. (see phrenetic). Related: Frenetical; frenetically. Compare frantic.

✪artifice (n.)

1530s, "workmanship, the making of anything by craft or skill," from Middle French artifice "skill, cunning" (14c.), from Latin artificium "a profession, trade, employment, craft; making by art," from artifex (genitive artificis) "craftsman, artist," from stem of ars "art" (see art (n.)) + facere "to make, do" (see factitious). Meaning "device, trick" (the usual modern sense) is from 1650s.

✪diversity (n.)

mid-14c., "quality of being diverse," mostly in a neutral sense, from Old French diversité (12c.) "difference, diversity, unique feature, oddness:" also "wickedness, perversity," from Latin diversitatem (nominative diversitas) "contrariety, contradiction, disagreement;" also, as a secondary sense, "difference, diversity," from diversus "turned different ways" (in Late Latin "various"), past participle of divertere (see divert).
Negative meaning, "being contrary to what is agreeable or right; perversity, evil" existed in English from late 15c. but was obsolete from 17c. Diversity as a virtue in a nation is an idea from the rise of modern democracies in the 1790s, where it kept one faction from arrogating all power (but this was not quite the modern sense, as ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, etc. were not the qualities in mind):

The dissimilarity in the ingredients which will compose the national government, and still more in the manner in which they will be brought into action in its various branches, must form a powerful obstacle to a concert of views in any partial scheme of elections. There is sufficient diversity in the state of property, in the genius, manners, and habits of the people of the different parts of the Union, to occasion a material diversity of disposition in their representatives towards the different ranks and conditions in society. ["The Federalist," No. 60, Feb. 26, 1788 (Hamilton)]

✪qualm (n.)

Old English cwealm (West Saxon) "death, murder, slaughter; disaster; plague; torment," utcualm (Anglian) "utter destruction," probably related to cwellan "to kill, murder, execute," cwelan "to die" (see quell). Sense softened to "feeling of faintness" 1520s; figurative meaning "uneasiness, doubt" is from 1550s; that of "scruple of conscience" is 1640s. Evidence of a direct path from the Old English to the modern senses is wanting, but it is plausible, via the notion of "fit of sickness." The other suggested etymology, less satisfying, is to take the "fit of uneasiness" sense from Dutch kwalm "steam, vapor, mist" (cognate with German Qualm "smoke, vapor, stupor"), which also might be ultimately from the same Germanic root as quell.

✪expurgate (v.)

1620s, "to purge" (in anatomy), back-formation from expurgation or from Latin expurgatus, past participle of expurgare "to cleanse out, purge, purify." Related: Expurgated; expurgating. The earlier verb was simply expurge (late 15c.), from Middle French expurger. Meaning "remove (something offensive or erroneous) from" is from 1670s.

✪unexpurgated (adj.)

1882, from un- (1) "not" + past participle of expurgate (v.).

✪begrudge (v.)

mid-14c., from be- + Middle English grucchen "to murmur" (see grudge). Related: Begrudged; begrudging; begrudgingly.

✪artless (adj.)

1580s, "unskillful," from art (n.) + -less. Later also "uncultured" (1590s); then "unartificial, natural" (1670s) and "guileless, ingenuous" (1714). Related: Artlessly; artlessness.

✪gratuity (n.)

1520s, "graciousness," from French gratuité (14c.) or directly from Medieval Latin gratuitatem (nominative gratuitas) "free gift," probably from Latin gratuitus "free, freely given" (see gratuitous). Meaning "money given for favor or services" is first attested 1530s.

✪manifestation (n.)

early 15c., "action of manifesting; exhibition, demonstration," from Late Latin manifestationem (nominative manifestatio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin manifestare (see manifest (adj.)). Meaning "an object, action, or presence by which something is made manifest" is from 1785. The spiritualism sense is attested from 1853.

✪delve (v.)

Old English delfan "to dig" (class III strong verb; past tense dealf, past participle dolfen), common West Germanic verb (cognates: Old Saxon delban, Dutch delven, Middle High German telben "to dig"), from PIE root *dhelbh- (source also of Lithuanian delba "crowbar," Russian dolbit', Czech dlabati, Polish dłubać "to chisel;" Russian dolotó, Czech dlato, Polish dłuto "chisel"). Weak inflections emerged 14c.-16c. Related: Delved; delving.

✪capricious (adj.)

1590s, from French capricieux "whimsical" (16c.), from Italian capriccioso, from capriccio (see caprice). Related: Capriciously; capriciousness

✪requisite (adj.)

mid-15c., from Latin requisitus, past participle of requirere (see require). As a noun from c. 1600. 

✪replenish (v.)

mid-14c., from Old French repleniss-, extended present participle stem of replenir "to fill up," from re-, here probably an intensive prefix, + -plenir, from Latin plenus "full" (see plenary). Related: Replanished; replenishing.