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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.  

Noel - “Christmas, the Feast of the Nativity.”  From the French noel, a variant of nael.  Nael comes from the Latin natalis meaning “birth” or “birthday.”  Natalis itself is related to the Latin verb nasci, natus meaning to “be born.”    (All information is from www.wikipedia.org, www.etymonline.com and/or www.dictionary.com)

RELATED WORDS/PHRASES – native, naive, nature, nation, nee, nascent, natal, prenatal, neonatal

SENTENCE:  “We hope you all enjoyed Christmas and that you have a wonderful, safe, and Happy 2022 - Joyeux Noël and Bonne année!”