Reunion Weekend: June 2-4, 2023

All alumni are invited to join us back on campus for Reunion Weekend the first weekend in June.

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.  

Microcosm

Definition: “A community, place, or situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristic qualities or features of something much larger.” 

Origin/Derivation: From the Greek mikros meaning “small” and kosmos meaning “world.”     

Related Words/Phrases:  cosmic, cosmopolitan, cosmetic, cosmology, macrocosm; microfiche, microscope, microphone, micromanage, microbiology, etc, etc.



 

Caption: The couple’s inability to agree on what TV show to watch was a microcosm of the dynamics of their relationship.

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