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Latin and Greek Elements in English

Latin and Greek Elements in English. Lesson 14: Degeneration and Elevation DEGENERATION : “the process by which a word comes to mean something more objectionable or contemptible than it did before,” e.g. intercourse ( < “between + run/go”) monster : Lat. monstrum (“omen, marvel”)

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Latin and Greek Elements in English

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  1. Latin and Greek Elements in English Lesson 14: Degeneration and Elevation • DEGENERATION: “the process by which a word comes to mean something more objectionable or contemptible than it did before,” e.g. intercourse (< “between + run/go”) • monster: • Lat. monstrum (“omen, marvel”) • > “a horrific thing, a cruel person” • rococo: • Fr. roche, rocaille (“rock, rock-work”) • > “florid and tasteless”

  2. Latin and Greek Elements in English Lesson 14: Degeneration and Elevation • DEGENERATION: “the process by which a word comes to mean something more objectionable or contemptible than it did before,” e.g. intercourse (< “between + run/go”) • demon: • Greek daimon (“god”), cf. Socrates’ “guiding spirit” • > “evil spirit” • innocuous: • “not/harmful” > “bland, insipid, boring” • cf. “square”: “upright” (as in “four-square”) > “tedious, conventional”

  3. Latin and Greek Elements in English Lesson 14: Degeneration and Elevation • DEGENERATION: “the process by which a word comes to mean something more objectionable or contemptible than it did before,” e.g. intercourse (< “between + run/go”) • precocious: • Lat praecox, “ripening early” (prae- + COQU- “cook”) • cf. apricot: orig. “early-ripening (apple, sc. malum)” • > “young and cocky, obnoxious”

  4. Latin and Greek Elements in English Lesson 14: Degeneration and Elevation • ELEVATION: “the process by which a word comes to mean something more pleasant or lofty than it did before” • eutopia: orig. utopia (“no-place”) • from Thomas Moore’s satire Utopia • > “an idyllic locale” (lit. “good-place”) • for u- prefix, cf. uchronia (“no-time”), a novel about an imaginary historical period, e.g. Hitler winning WWII • angel: orig. “messenger” (Greek angelos) • > “a heavenly herald, a savior”

  5. Latin and Greek Elements in English Lesson 14: Degeneration and Elevation • ELEVATION: “the process by which a word comes to mean something more pleasant or lofty than it did before” • hidalgo: “a Spanish nobleman of a rank below grandee” • orig. hijo de algo (“son of someone”) • progress: orig. “walk forward” • > “do better” • cf. regress, “do worse”: degeneration

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