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.
Prognosis
Definition: “A forecasting of the probable course and outcome of a disease, especially of the chances of recovery.”
Origin/Derivation: From the Greek preposition pro meaning “before” and the Greek verb gignoskein meaning “come to know” (a forerunner of the Proto-Indo-European root gno- meaning “to know”).
Related Words/Phrases: agnostic, prognostication, cognitive, connoisseur, diagnosis, ignorant, incognito, recognize, reconnoiter
Punxsutawney Phil “prognosticator of prognosticators” from Groundhog Day
(All information is from www.wikipedia.org, www.etymonline.com and/or www.dictionary.com)
“Old Saw” of the Week:
See if you can “complete the phrase” of this time-worn (but true!) adage:
“Measure Twice...
cut once."