Saint Ignatius High School

Etymology Word of the Week

Director of Admissions Pat O'Rourke '90, a self-proclaimed "word nerd," brings you his Etymology Word of the Week. Every other week he presents an online Etymology lesson just for fun!

Etymology Word of the Week – As some of you know, in addition to working in the Admissions Office, I also teach Latin at Saint Ignatius and am something of a "word nerd."  Thus, each week, I’ll sneak a vocabulary word (sometimes derived from Latin, sometimes not) into the e-blast.  Here then is this week’s edition of the Etymology Word of the Week.

Intangible

Definition“Incapable of being perceived by the sense of touch; impalpable.”

Origin/Derivation:  From the Latin prefix in- meaning “not” and the Latin verb tango, tangere, tetigi, tactum meaning “to touch”. 

Related Words: tactile, contact, intact, tangent

 

 
Derek Jeter (#2 in gray) was a very good player whose intangibles made him elite.


(All information is from www.wikipedia.org, www.etymonline.com and/or www.dictionary.com)


Trivia Question of the Week:

What 6 nicknames are shared by teams that compete in the 4 major sports leagues in America? 

(example: If the NFL’s Houston Oilers hadn’t moved to Tennessee in 1997, “Oilers” would count as one of the shared nicknames because it is also used by the NHL’s Edmonton franchise) 
 
 
 

 


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Answer:
Panthers (NFL - Carolina; NHL - Florida)
Rangers (MLB - Texas; NHL - New York)
Giants (NFL - New York; MLB - San Francisco)
Jets (NFL - New York; NHL - Winnipeg)
Cardinals (NFL - Arizona; MLB - St. Louis)
Kings (NBA - Sacramento; NHL - Los Angeles)