The Greek & Latin Roots of English (26 page)

But other gods could also affect human and animal behavior. Pan, the Greek god of flocks and herds, liked to play his pipes in the countryside; the shrill high notes would cause the animals to act in peculiar ways. It was also said that he could overwhelm his enemies merely by shouting, for his cry would cause them to feel sudden, unreasonable terror, or
panic
.

SCIENCE AND THE HUMAN MIND

Of course, society today is obsessed with precision and scientific measurement, even in the realm of human behavior. Modern psychology has devised all sorts of means to analyze how and why we act, and has developed systems by which human intelligence is thought to be accurately measured. The Greeks and Romans were not so precise in their measurements, but we still use their vocabulary to describe levels of intellectual ability. Who knows? Perhaps the Greeks and Romans were smarter than we are.

Don't Be Foolish

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that joins two terms that are contradictory. Here are two examples:

“Jumbo shrimp are pretty ugly.”

“He is clearly confused.”

όξύς = clever, sharp

You're an Idiot!

The word
idiotes
(ἰδιώτης) was applied to those who cared only for their private affairs and did not participate in public life; thus, its meaning became pejorative.

NAME ____________________________________________________________________

A. In the following questions, fill in the blank with the literal meaning of the italicized word or part of word. Make sure that your sentences are grammatically correct.

1. A
magnifying
glass __________objects __________.

2. The
minimum
wage is the __________ amount one can be paid.

3. The
mayor
of the city is supposed to have __________ power than other officials.

4. Someone who is
demented
is __________ his __________.

5. Our personalities are really just __________.

6. In a
soror
ity, the members consider themselves to be __________.

7. If you name your dog
Fido
, you expect him to be __________.

8. A
misogynist
__________ __________.

9.
Cupid
was the Roman god of __________.

10.
Inanimate
objects do __________ have __________.

11.
Genealogy
is __________ __________.

12. A person with a
mart
ial disposition enjoys __________.

13. An
egotist
is an individual whose favorite pronoun is __________.

14. To
ameliorate
a situation is to make it __________.

15. When philosophers search for the eternal
ver
ities, they are looking for those ideas that are always __________.

16. An
ultimatum
is a __________ proposal or demand.

17. A
pessimist
is always sure that the __________ will happen.

18. An
optimist
always thinks the __________ about circumstances.

19. He made a
fallacious
argument because he wanted to __________ me.

20. His
erratic
behavior made me think that his mind was __________.

21. He was so arrogant that even his friends thought him guilty of __________.

22. He was found guilty of
bigamy
when he admitted that he had __________ __________.

23. His
infam
ous behavior brought __________ to his family.

24. His
odi
ous behavior caused everyone to __________him.

25.
Idio
syncratic behavior is __________ an individual.

26. A Franco
phile
__________ all things French.

27. The
pseudonym
ous author used a __________ __________ because he did not wish to reveal his identity.

28.
Psychosis
is a diseased condition of the __________.

29. I knew I had performed badly, but his
pejor
ative comments made me feel __________.

B. Answer the following questions. If you are not sure of the answers, check your unabridged dictionary.

30. Philosophers have always discussed the
summum bonum
. What is it? __________ __________

31. Of what crime are you guilty if you kill your brother? __________

32. Where should your
superiors
be? __________

33. In the counting of votes, what is the difference between a
plurality
and a
majority?
_________________________________________________________________________

34. What is the literal meaning of
matriarchy?
__________ __________What is its current usage? ____________________

35. What is the difference between
sanguine
and
sanguinary?
____________________________________________________________________

36. What is the literal meaning of
animus?
__________What is its current usage?_______________________________________________________

37. What is the difference in meaning between
amiable
and
amicable?
_____________________________________________________________

38. What is the meaning of the Latin phrase
persona non grata?
____________________

39. What do the etymologies of the words
matrimony
and
matron
tell us about the ancient Roman understanding of the purpose of marriage? ______________________________

40. Their marital bliss was shattered when he committed
uxoricide
. What had he done? ____________________

41. What kind of cell is a
gamete?
__________

42. What is the literal meaning of
patrimony?
__________What is its current usage? __________

43. I know it's not really true, but it seems to me that every time the moon is full, people act like__________.

44. His
moron
ic behavior convinced me that he was a __________.

How would you characterize someone whose personality can be characterized as:

What are the following fears, forms of madness, or desires?

C. By now, you should be able to recognize Romance language cognates of Latin words. Without consulting a dictionary, see if you can figure out the English meanings of each of the following French (F.), Spanish (S.), or Italian (I.) words.