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. I know the circumstances of this week are more unusual than in weeks past, but I hope to bring some normalcy by offering a lesson on a word we've been hearing a lot about lately. Here, then, is this week’s edition of the Etymology Word of the Week.
Pandemic - “general, universal; (of a disease) prevalent throughout the whole world.” From the Greek roots pan- meaning “all” and demos meaning “people, common people” (All information is from www.wikipedia.org, www.etymonline.com and/or www.dictionary.com).
RELATED WORDS/PHRASES – epidemic, endemic, democracy, demographics, demagogue, panacea, pandemonium (from Milton’s Paradise Lost), Pandora (from Greek mythology), pancreas, Panglossian (from Voltaire’s Candide), panoply, panegyric, Pan-American
SAMPLE SENTENCE - "We could sure use a panacea for this pandemic - I hope everyone is hanging in there and staying safe!"
FINISH THE PHRASE: Absence makes the heart…
…grow fonder.