Words derived from characters in popular literature

• Quixotic : Don Quixote, hero of a romance by Miguel de Cervantes [Meaning :  Capricious, impulsive]
• Panglossian : After Pangloss, an optimist in Candide, a satire by Voltaire. [Meaning : Blindly or naively optimistic]
• Uncle tom :  After Uncle Tom, a character in Uncle Tom's Cabin, a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe [Meaning :  to be excessively obedient or servile]
• Sheherazade : (the legendary Persian queen and gifted storyteller of The One Thousand and One Nights – the word is used to mean a person gifted with the art of storytelling). [meaning : a good story teller]
• Quasimodo : (the main character in Victor Hugo's novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", Quasimodo is a deformed and ugly hunchback under whose grotesque exterior lies a heart of gold – the word is used to mean a person who, though ugly to look at, is of good and courageous character).
• Walter Mitty : (the fictional character in James Thurber's short story "The secret life of Walter Mitty", a henpecked husband who copes with the frustrations of his dull life by imagining he is a fearless airplane pilot, a brilliant doctor, and other dashing figures – the term is used to mean one who is prone to daydream, of being in fantastic situations). 

Words related to Zeus (Greek Mythology)

• cornucopia : According to Greek mythology, Zeus was nurtured by a nymph. Later, as king,wanting to thank her for her kindness he gave her a magical horn that could produce anything she wanted in abundance, hence the meaning of the word. [Meaning : anything in abundance]
• Pandora's box : A box containing all the sins of mankind that Zeus gave to Pandora, with instructions not to open it. However, she gave in to her curiosity… and out flew all the miseries and evils which today afflict mankind. [Meaning : any source of great and unexpected trouble]
• Herculean task : Heracles, the son of Zeus, had to perform 12 tasks as a penance for killing his family under the spell of Hera (Zeus' wife). These tasks required feats of super human strength. [Meaning : needing great strength and determination]
• Under the aegis of : Athena, the daughter of Zeus, was the goddess of Athens, the capital of Greece. During the Trojan War,fought between the Greeks and the people of Troy (Trojans), Zeus wanting to protect his daughter gave her a goatskin call “aegis”. [Meaning : under the guidance of or protection of]

Words and idioms related to Julius Ceaser

Julius Caesar, a Roman military and political leader, is one of the most colourful historical characters of all time. In a life well lived he invaded Britain, vanquished Pompey his arch rival, installed Cleopatra as queen of Egypt and was appointed Dictator for Life by the Romans. He not only enriched Roman political life but also the English language.

• Caesarian : It is said that the term Caesarian – an operation by which a foetus is taken from the uterus by cutting through the walls of the abdomen and uterus – arose because Julius Caesar was supposed to have been delivered surgically. However there is some dispute about this as his mother lived to see his victories and in ancient times an operation of this nature was almost always fatal for the woman.
• Crossing the Rubicon : In 49 BC, Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, a river that formed the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and Italy. Crossing the Rubicon into Italy signaled the declaration of a war against the Roman Senate & Pompey as Caesar had broken the law which forbid a general from leading an army out of his province. There was now no going back for Caesar. Incidentally when he crossed the river he is supposed to have exclaimed “the die is cast” thus signifying that he was aware of the importance of his action. [Meaning : a point of no return]
• Caeser's wife : Caesar divorced his wife Pompeia when her name was brought into a scandal, even though this was without basis, saying that "my wife ought not even to be under suspicion." This gave rise to a proverb, sometimes expressed : "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion."
• July : named after Julius Caeser

Toponyms : place names in India

• Bangalored : from the city Bangalore known for outsourcing of IT [Meaning : loss]
• Golconda : from the Golconda fort in Hyderabad [meaning : a source of wealth or riches]
• Juggernaut : from Jaganatha Puri in Orissa [meaning : an unstoppable force]
• Doolaly : an adjective meaning “mad” or “eccentric” (e.g. “to go dolally“), ultimately named after Deolali, a fort in the North West Frontier of colonial India (now Pakistan), referring to the apparent madness of men waiting to return to Britain after their tour of duty
• Bungalow : a low building or house, from a Gujarati word meaning “Bengalese”, used elliptically to mean a house built in the style of Bengal
• Delhi belly : diarrhea experienced by travelers in a foreign country, who are notaccustomed to the local food and water.From Delhi in India [since Delhi is famous for its street food this slang was coined]

Literature's contribution to the English Language

• a Daniel : A Daniel is someone who makes a wise judgment that has previously been difficult to solve. It refers to the biblical character Daniel who was attributed with fine powers of judgment
• malapropism : from the character Mrs. Malaprop from Sheridan’s play-The Rivals (meaning : an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.)
• Jekyl and Hyde :  The phrase Jekyll and Hyde is used to describe a  person who has two separate personalities – one good  and the other evil. The expression derives from the name of the main characters in the novel “The strange  case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde” by the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson
• Aladin's cave : Aladin is the poor son of a Chinese tailor and is used by a Moorish magician to fetch a magical lamp from an underground cave. When Aladin enters the cave he finds it filled with several chests of treasure and riches.Hence Aladin’s cave refers to a place of great riches or a place where valuable things are found
• To raise a Cain : To raise Cain means to create an uproar or to cause trouble. Cain was the son of Adam and Eve and the brother of Abel. He became jealous of Abel because only Abel’s offering to God was accepted. So he slew his brother Abel. Hence Eve who had raised Cain raised trouble in the form of Cain.

Words derived from monsters,animals and creatures

• halcyon : Calm and prosperous (to describe a period) – from the bird in Greek fable that was supposed to have had the power to calm the wind and the waves while it nested on the sea during the winter solstice.
• harpy : A predatory person, a shrewish woman – from the Greek mythological monsters that were predatory birds with the heads of a women
• phoenix : A bird in Egyptian mythology that lived in the desert for 500 years and then consumed itself by fire, later to rise renewed from its ashes. The word is used to mean a person or thing of surpassing beauty or quality
• chimerical : in Greek mythology the Chimera is a monster made up of grotesquely disparate parts. The word ‘chimerical’ is used to mean created by, or as if by, a wildly fanciful imagination; highly improbable.
• cyclopean : Very big; huge; relating to or suggestive of a Cyclops – the single-eyed giant in the Greek epic ‘The Odyssey’.
• caught between Syclla and Charybdis : The hero Odysseus spent nine years returning home after the Trojan War. Along his voyage by sea, he came upon Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla was an enormous sea monster with numerous hands and six dog heads sprouting from her body; she ate men alive. Charybdis was a tremendous whirlpool that digested ships whole. Since the only way to get home was to choose either route, Odysseus had to decide on one horror or the other. He chose Scylla, losing six crewmen to Scylla's hunger
• furies : The Furies were the "avengers", so to speak, of crimes. They would pursue anyone with bloodstained hands; they are particularly cruel to Orestes after the murder of Clytemnestra, his mother. Some scholars believe the Furies represent one's own tormented conscious
• archnae : meaning "spider" in Greek. After the weaver girl who was turned into a spider by Athene. Hence the term "arachnid' used to describe a spider

Words related to the Trojan War

• under the aegis of : Protection, sponsorship. The shield or buckler belonging to Zeus, supposedly made by Hephaestus, decorated with golden tassels and containing the head of Medusa in the center given to Athena by Zeus to protect her during the Trojan War
• Achilles's heel : A hero of the Trojan War, Achilles was a Greek hero whose mother Thetis was a Nereid, or sea goddess. Since Achilles was destined to die young, Thetis dipped him into the river Styx, which would render him invincible. However, she had held him by the heel, thus leaving a vulnerable area. He would later die, as prophesized, by an arrow to his heel
• Palladium : Also known as Pallas Athene. Pallas signifies brandisher of a spear. Pallas is also the origin of an extremely rare element called palladium. A statue of Athene was said to have guarded Troy and thus the word palladium is used to indicate a potential safeguard.
• Hector : the eldest son of Priam and husband of Andromache: the greatest Trojan hero in the Trojan War,killed by Achilles. (meaning : bully)
• apple of discord : a golden apple inscribed “For the fairest,” thrown by Eris, goddess of discord, among the gods (Hera,Athena and Aphrodite). Its award by Paris to aphrodite caused events that led to the Trojan War.
• The Trojan horse : The Trojan Horse was related by the Latin genius Virgil in the Aeneid. The Trojans were barricaded within their city walls while the Achaeans (Greeks) lay in wait outside. An enormous wooden horse is brought within the city; a gift from the gods, the Trojans believe, despite warnings from the princess Cassandra and the priest Laocoon. During the night, hidden soldiers from the horse's belly emerged and sacked the city
• Stentorian : Extremely loud and clear (of voice) – after Stentor, a herald in the Greek army at Troy (the Iliad)

Origin of Month names

• January : The first month of the Gregorian calendar. Named after Janus, the Roman god of gates, doorways, beginnings, and endings. 
• March : The third month of the Gregorian calendar. Named after Mars, the Roman god of war.
• May : The fifth month of the Gregorian calendar. Possibly from the Roman goddess Maia, wife of Vulcan.
• June : The sixth month of the Gregorian calendar. Possibly named after Juno, the queen of the gods in Roman mythology
• July : from Julius Ceaser
• August : Month of August after Octavius Caesar, Julius Caesar's nephew who rechristened himself "Augustus"
• September : Latin septa = 7
• October : Latin octa = 8
• November : Latin nova = 9
• December : Latin deca = 10

Words from Greek and Roman gods and goddesses - II

• Aphrodisiac : An agent (as a food or drug) that arouses or is held to arouse sexual desire. From Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, lust, beauty, and sexuality.An agent (as a food or drug) that arouses or is held to arouse sexual desire. From Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, lust, beauty, and sexuality.
• Aurora : Dawn. From Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn
• Bacchanalia : In Roman mythology, Bacchus (Dionysus in Greek Mythology) is the god of the grape harvest, of wine-making and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy
• Cereal : Relating to grain or to the plants that produce it. Derived from Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture.
• Cupid : Roman god of love
• Eros : Greek god of love and Aphrodite's son. Husband of Psyche
• Fauna : The animals characteristic of a region, period, or special environment. From the Roman fertility goddess, Fauna, who was also either the wife, sister, or daughter of Faunus.
• Friday : The fifth or sixth day of the week. Derived from Frige, the love goddess of Norse mythology, and also the wife of Odin.
• Martial : Of, relating to, or suited for war or a warrior. Relating to an army or to military life. From Mars, the Roman god of war.

Words from Greek and Roman gods and goddesses

• Nemesis : a deity in Greek mythology, the goddess of retribution or revenge.
• Proteus : a deity in Greek mythology who was capable of changing shape at will – this leads to the adjective ‘protean’with the general meaning of "versatile"
• Zephyr : a gentle wind, after the Greek god of the West wind, also Zephyr.
• Flora : Plants as a group, flowers, after the Roman goddess of flowers, also Flora.
• Palladium : (apart from the element of that name) A sacred object believed to have the power to preserve a city or state – from the name of the Greek goddess Pallas Athena, who was believed to watch over the safety of places.
• Apollonian : relating to the Greek god Apollo or his cult – the word is used to mean characterized by clarity, harmony,and restraint; serenely high-minded; noble.
• Junoesque : of stately bearing and regal beauty – like the Roman goddess Juno.
• Mercurial : Quick and changeable in temperament; volatile; having the characteristics of eloquence, shrewdness,swiftness, and thievishness attributed to the Greek god Mercury

Root Sheet 3 : Letter C

Root : carn
Meaning : flesh
Language :
Words derived from the root carn :

• carnivore [vor:eat] : one who eats flesh
• reincarnation [re:again] : born in flesh again
• carnal : related to the flesh

Root : cide

Meaning : kill

Language : 

Words derived from the root cide : 

• insecticide : one that kills insects
• genocide [gen : race] : mass killing of people
• regicide [reg : king/royal] : killing of the king

Root : chrono

Meaning : time

Language : Greek

Words derived from the root chrono :

• chronology : the science of arranging time in periods and ascertaining the dates and historical order of past events.
• synchronize : to cause to indicate the same time, as one timepiece with another
• chronic : continuing a long time or recurring frequently

Root : centum

Meaning : hundred

Language :

Words derived from the root centum :

• century : a period of hundred years
• centennial [enni : year] : pertaining to a 100th anniversary
• centimeter : one hundredth of a meter

Root : crea

Meaning : grow

Language :

Words derived from the root crea :

• increase [in : into] : grow
• decrease [ de : down] : to reduce
• increment [in : into] : something gained or added

Answers to Quiz 2 : Root Sheet 2 : Letter B

Words used in the quiz :

Word : belligerent
Pronunciation : [buh-lij-er-uhnt]
Origin : bellum (war)
Meaning : given to wage war / warlike

Word : biopsy

Pronunciation : [bahy-op-see]

Origin : bio (life) + opsis (see/appearance)

Meaning : the removal for diagnostic study of a piece of tissue from a living body

Word : bibliophile

Pronunciation : [bib-lee-uh-fahyl, -fil]

Origin : biblion (book) + phile (love)

Meaning : a person who loves or collects books

Word : breviloquence

Origin : brevis (short) + loqu (speak)

Meaning : a brief mode of speaking

Word : benign

Pronunciation : [bih-nahyn]

Origin : bene (good)

Meaning : favourable

Answers 

1. both 1 and 2
2. 3
3. both 3 and 4
4. 2
5. both 1 and 2  

Quiz 2 based on Root Sheet 2 : Letter B

You can take the quiz from the following link : Quiz

Root Sheet 2 : Letter B

Root : bellum
Meaning : war
Language :
Words derived from the root bellum :

• bellicose : war like
• ante bellum [ante : before] : before war
• rebel : to rise in arms against once government

Root : bio

Meaning : life / living

Language :

Words derived from the root bio :

• biology : the study of living
• biography [graphy : write] : someone's life story
• autobiography [auto : self] : a history of a person's life told or written by that person

Root : biblion 

Meaning : book

Language :

Words derived from the root biblion :

• bibliography [graphein : write] : a written record of reference books
• bibliomancy [mancy : prediction] : a divination by interpretation of a passage chosen at random from a book especially the Bible
• bible : the holy book of the Catholics

Root : brevis 

Meaning : shorten

Language :

Words derived from the same :

• brevity : concise expression
• abbreviate : shorten
• brief : concise

Prefix : bene 

Meaning : good

Language : 

Words derived from the root bene : 

• benefit : something that is advantageous or good
• beneficiary : a person or a group that receives benefit 
• benediction (dict : speak ) : blessing

Answers to Quiz 1 : Root Sheet 1 : Letter A

Words used in the quiz 

Word : anthropophagy (n)

Pronunciation : [an-thruh-pof-uh-jee]     

Origin : anthropos (mankind) + phagein (eat)

Meaning : the eating of human flesh

Word : enamored (v)

Pronunciation : [ih-nam-er]

Origin : amare (love)

Meaning : to fill or inflame with love 

Usage : She is a brilliant women with whom he became enamored.

Word : audivision (n)

Origin : audi (hear) + vis (to see)

Meaning : sounds accompanying a picture

Word : astral

Pronunciation : [as-truhl]

Origin : astro (star)

Meaning : related to the stars

Word : circumambulate

Pronunciation : [sur-kuhm-am-byuh-leyt]

Origin : circum (around) + ambulare (walk)

Meaning : to walk or go about or around

Answers 

1. anthropophagy : eating of human flesh / cannibalism
2. enamored : both 1 and 2
3. audivision : sound accompanying pictures
4. astral : related to stars
5. circumambulate : to walk or go about or around 

Quiz 1 based on Root Sheet 1 : Letter A

Quiz

Root Sheet 1 : Letter A

Root : anthropos 

Meaning : mankind

Language : Greek 

Words from the same root :

• anthropology [anthropos + logy (study of)] : the study of mankind
• philanthropy [phil : love + anthropos] : one who loves mankind
• misanthropy [mis : hate + anthropos] : one who hates mankind

Root : amare

Meaning : love / friend

Language : Latin

Words for amare :

• amiable : friendly
• amity : friendship
• amicable : friendly , peaceful 

Root : audi

Meaning : hear

Language : 

Words from audi :

• audible : capable of being heard
• inaudible [in (not) + audi] : incapable of being heard
• auditory : of or relating to hearing or sense organs of hearing

Root : astro

Meaning : star

Language :

Words from astro :

• astronaut[astro (star) + naut (travel)] : 
• astrology [astro + logy (study) ] : 
• asterisk : a small star like symbol  (*)

Root : ambulare

Meaning : walk

Language :

Words derived from ambulare :

• amble : saunter
• ambulatory : related to walking
• perambulator : a carriage for carrying a baby

Why etymology?

When I begin my classes on vocabulary building I generally try and explain the reason for the existence of etymology as a subject.

A language is an invention and not a discovery.[difference between invention and discovery : invention is when one creates something altogether new and discovery is something that is already there and one finds it]

An invention will always have a rationale behind its being invented ;while discoveries only have hypothesis to explain the reasons behind their existence.
eg. the big bang theory (which attempts at explaining the beginning of the universe)
      islands are discovered
      newton discovered the gravitational force and so on ......

A language being an invention (was invented by man to communicate) would have some logic behind its invention.When we say there are 26 letters in the English alphabet there has to be an explanation for the existence of these 26 letters in the alphabet.

Etymology tries to explain this rationale behind the invention of the words by tracing the origin of words and thereby tracing the origin of the language.

Introduction to Etymology

Understanding Etymology

Have you noticed that words ending in –ology always have some common feature?For example: 

• Biology the study of living
• Zoology the study of animals
• Psychology the study of human mind
• Sociology the study of society
• Geology the study of the earth
• Anthropology the study of mankind

In all the above words, the “study” part is common; so too is “-ology”. So can we say that –ology means the “study of” or “science of”.

Let’s apply “-ology” to other words and see if it is true of them too:

• Petrology study of rocks
• Teleology study of ethics
• Astrology study of stars or heavenly bodies
• Palaeontology study of fossils
• Theology study of religion
• Psephology study of elections

The list goes on and on. So we can conclude that “–ology” means “the study of”. Since –ology gives the base meaning to the word, we say it is the root of the word.

Let’s look at another word.

Misanthropy

The root of this word is “anthropos” or mankind. The “Mis-” before the root gives the word a negative meaning. Misanthropy means “hatred of men”.

Words placed before roots, like “Mis-” are called prefixes. The “-y” in Misanthropy denotes the grammatical part of the word. Words placed after roots are known as suffixes.

Thus, we can conclude that words have a distinct structure: Prefix+Root+Suffix

• Prefix gives a positive or negative connotation to a word
• Root gives the base meaning to a word
• Suffix gives the grammatical form to a word

Breaking up words according to these components is known as “word analysis”.

Note that many a time one root can have multiple meanings. For example, “–ology” also means “ratio”, as in the words “logic”, “logical” and “analogy”.

Analogy : relationship between two words

It also means “word” or “speech” as in “eulogy”, “philology”, “neology”, and “tautology”.

Eulogy good speech

Philology the humanistic study of language and literature

Neology new word usage

Tautology repetition of a word

Influence of Latin and Greek on English

English has had a strong influence on our Indian languages like Hindi and Marathi. “Station”, “file”, “pen”, “paper”, and “taxi” are English words used frequently by Indians without knowledge of English. The reason for this is the influence of the British during their rule in India. Similarly, due to the Romans rule in England (4th and 5th cent AD) the impact of Latin on English is very strong. Then again, the Greeks being the first to study medicine, religion, and philosophy, most of the words related to these fields are derived from the Greek language.