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.

Ruminate

Definition: “To ponder; to meditate or muse; to turn over in the mind; (figurative) to chew the cud.”

Origin/Derivation: From the Latin noun rumen, ruminis meaning “gullet, throat” and the Latin verb ruminare meaning “to chew the cud” or “to turn over in the mind”.

Related Words: ruminants (cloven-hoofed, cud-chewing quadruped mammals such as cattle, sheep, goats, bison, buffalo, deer, antelopes and giraffes); FUN FACT: ruminants regurgitate and re-swallow their food to help with digestion.

 

 


(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:


"When in Rome...”



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do as the Romans do.”