17SEP2009

Progenitor (noun)

Pronunciation [prê-'jen-ê-tê( r)]

Definition: (1) The originator or original ancestor of a line of descent, a direct ancestor; (2) the founder of a family; (3) the originator of anything, a founder, as the progenitor of a philosophical school.

Usage: A progenitor produces progeny, the descendants of a single ancestor (or pair thereof). Back when English was allowed to distinguish between males and females, a female progenitor was known as a progenitrix (plural "progenitrices" ). The state or stature of being a progenitor is "progenitorship" and the adjective for this noun is "progenitorial. "

Suggested Usage: The white families who claimed President Thomas Jefferson as their progenitor were recently confronted by black families who claimed (with reason) to be the progeny of the same man. Jefferson was certainly one of the progenitors of our system of government. While Jews and Christians hold Adam and Eve to be the progenitors of all humankind, it is certainly true that we are all progeny of one couple at some point way back in prehistorical time.

Etymology: From Latin "progenitor, " the noun of progignere "to beget." This word is based on pro- "forward" + gignere, gen- "to beget," containing the same gen- that we see in "generate," "generation, " "gender" and "genus." It appears without the vowel all but hidden in "pregnant," from the Latin word meaning "before giving birth." In English this root became "kin," also seen in "kindred" from Old English cyn "race, family, kin" but also "king" from a time when ruling had genetic connotations. "Kind" originally meant pretty much the same thing as Latin "genus," so it should come as no surprise that they both derived from the same Proto-Indo-European root word.

17SEP2009

Hobnob (verb)

Pronunciation ['hahb-nahb]

Definition: To take turns drinking to or buying drinks for each other; to drink together; to associate with someone of a higher social class.

Usage: Someone who hobnobs is a hobnobber and his behavior may be characterized as hobnobbery. The hyphen, which originally marked the spot where a conjunction ("and" or "or") once stood, is usually omitted now.

Suggested Usage: Keep in mind that the basic meaning of today's word (currently) is to drink together, "Let's go to the pub this weekend; we'll hobnob and watch some football on TV together." The implication is that those involved will take turns buying the drinks. Probably because it rhymes with "snob," the word has taken a different turn in the US, referring to merely associating with someone, but usually someone of higher social register: "Westerbrooke doesn't like the opera, he just hobnobs there with the politically high and snooty."

Etymology: Today's word comes from the adverb phrase (to drink) hob or nob "to toast one another alternately" (also "hob and nob" and "hob-a-nob"). From dialectal hab or nab "have or have not" when "a" was pronounced [ah] as [o] is now. These two derived from habbe "have" and n'abbe, a contraction of ne habbe "not have". In 1601 the phrase meant "give and take" to Shakespeare, who wrote in 'Twelfth Night' (III. iv. 262), "His incensement…is so implacable, that satisfaction can be none, but by pangs of death and sepulcher: Hob, nob, is his word: giv't or take't." Toasting back and forth is a kind of given-and-take and from there the sense "chumming around with" is but a short hop and a skip.

16SEP2009

Anodyne (adjective)

Pronunciation: ['æ-nê-dIn]

Definition: Alleviating or reducing pain; soothing or comforting.

Usage: Today's word originated as an adjective, as in "anodyne words that calmed Delly's mind," but is used as a noun, as "aspirin is an anodyne for headaches." Remember the [y] in the suffix, not to be confused with the more common one, -ine.

Suggested Usage: Anything that soothes and heals wounds of any kind is anodyne, "There is nothing so anodyne as one of mama's apple pies after traveling for weeks and eating at diners and fast-food joints." Of course, be careful telling mama this if she doesn't subscribe to our series, since the word itself has a bit of a medicinal flavor. "A vacation in the Caribbean is just the anodyne I need after baby-sitting the niece and nephew for a week."

Etymology: Today's word originated in Greek anodynos "free from pain," based on an-"without" + odyne "pain." "Odyne" is related to English "eat;" both originate in Proto-Indo-European od-/ed- "bite." In Germanic languages the [d] became [t], which changed to [ss] in German (as in Wasser "water"), so we are not surprised to find essen "to eat" in German. German fressen "to feed, devour" also goes back to Proto-Germanic fra- "completely" + etan "to eat up," which we inherited as fret "to wear or be eaten away, to worry." Escarole? Of course, this word for a variety of endive comes from French which took it from Late Latin escariola "chicory," based on Latin esca "food (eats)" which comes from the root of edere "to eat" plus a suffix –ca.