Vocabulary and Etymology/week15

A. 12 Days of Christmas

On the twelfth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
12 Drummers Drumming
11 Pipers Piping
10 Lords a Leaping
9 Ladies Dancing
8 Maids a Milking
7 Swans a Swimming
6 Geese a Laying
5 Golden Rings
4 Calling Birds
3 French Hens
2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

B. Film 

Maleficent

Maleficent is a 2014 American dark fantasy film directed by Robert Stromberg from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton and starring Angelina Jolie, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville. Loosely based on Charles Perrault's original fairy tale and inspired by Walt Disney's 1959 animated film, Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent portrays the story from the perspective of the eponymous antagonist, depicting her conflicted relationship with the princess and king of a corrupt kingdom.

Sex and the City

Sex and the City is a 2008 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Michael Patrick King in his feature film directorial debut, and a sequel to the 1998-2004 HBO comedy series of the same name about four female friends: Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis), and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), dealing with their lives as single women in New York City. The series often portrayed frank discussions about romance and sexuality.

C. Auld Lang Syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And auld lang syne
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne
For auld lang syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And auld lang syne
Auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne
Ey, oh yeah, ey, ey, eh
Happy New Year baby, eh, oh

D. Introduction

The Canterbury Tales

A woodcut from William Caxton's second edition of The Canterbury Tales printed in 1483

• The Canterbury Tales is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer. In 1386, Chaucer became Controller of Customs and Justice of Peace and, three years later, Clerk of the King's work in 1389.
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• It was during these years that Chaucer began working on his most famous text, The Canterbury Tales. The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

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Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Boccaccio wrote a number of notable works, including The Decameron and On Famous Women. He wrote his imaginative literature mostly in the Italian vernacular, as well as other works in Latin, and is particularly noted for his realistic dialogue which differed from that of his contemporaries, medieval writers who usually followed formulaic models for character and plot.

Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore, a granite batholith formation in the Black Hills in Keystone, South Dakota, United States. Sculpted by Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum, Mount Rushmore features 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of four United States presidents: George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865).The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres (2.00 sq mi; 5.17 km2) and is 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level

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Black Death

• ​The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe in the years 1346–1353. Although there were several competing theories as to the etiology of the Black Death, analysis of DNA from victims in northern and southern Europe published in 2010 and 2011 indicates that the pathogen responsible was the Yersinia pestis bacterium, probably causing several forms of plague.
  
• The Black Death is thought to have originated in the arid plains of Central Asia, where it then travelled along the Silk Road, reaching Crimea by 1343. From there, it was most likely carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships. Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black Death is estimated to have killed 30–60% of Europe's total population. In total, the plague may have reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million down to 350–375 million in the 14th century. The world population as a whole did not recover to pre-plague levels until the 17th century. The plague recurred occasionally in Europe until the 19th century.

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E. Word root

pre- 

• word-forming element meaning "before," from Old French pre- and Medieval Latin pre-, both from Latin prae (adverb and preposition) "before in time or place," from PIE *peri- (source also of Oscan prai, Umbrian pre, Sanskrit pare "thereupon," Greek parai "at," Gaulish are- "at, before," Lithuanian pre "at," Old Church Slavonic pri "at," Gothic faura, Old English fore "before"), extended form of root *per- (1) "beyond, forward, through" (see per).
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  preview (v.)
  c. 1600, "to see beforehand," from pre- + view (v.). Meaning "to show (a film, etc.) before its public opening" is from 1928. Related: Previewed; previewing.
  
  prefix (v.)
  early 15c., "appoint beforehand," from Middle French prefixer, from pre- (see pre-) + fixer (see fix (v.)). Meaning "to place at the beginning" is from 1530s; of words or parts of words from c. 1600. Related: Prefixed; prefixing.
  
  preserve (v.)
  late 14c., "keep safe," from Anglo-French preservare, Old French preserver, from Medieval Latin preservare "keep, preserve," from Late Latin praeservare "guard beforehand," from Latin prae "before" (see pre-) + servare "to keep safe" (see observe). As a treatment of fruit, etc., 1570s; of organic bodies from 1610s. Related: Preserved; preserving.
  
  
• -ium
  word-forming element in chemistry, used to coin element names, from Latin adjectival suffix -ium (neuter of -ius), which formed metal names in Latin (ferrum "iron," aurum "gold," etc.). In late 18c chemists began to pay attention to the naming of their substances with words that indicate their chemical properties. Berzelius in 1811 proposed forming all element names in Modern Latin.
  
  tritium (n.)
  1933, Modern Latin, from Greek tritos "third"  + chemical suffix -ium.
  
  lutetium (n.)
  rare metallic element, 1907, from French lutécium, from Latin Lutetia, representing "Paris" (see Paris) + metallic element ending -ium.

F. Week 41~43

WEEK 41

1.advent (n.)"important arrival," 1742, an extended sense of Advent "season preceding Christmas" (in reference to the "coming" of Christ), late Old English, from Latin adventus "a coming, approach, arrival," in Church Latin "the coming of the Savior," from past participle stem of advenire "arrive at, come to," from ad "to" (see ad-) + venire "to come," from a suffixed form of PIE root *gwā- "to come" (see come). Related: Adventual.

2.allude (v.)1530s, "to mock" (transitive, now obsolete), from Middle French alluder or directly from Latin alludere "to play, make fun of, joke, jest," also of waves lapping the shore, from ad "to" (see ad-) + ludere "to play" (see ludicrous). Meaning "make an indirect reference, point in passing" is from 1530s. Related: Alluded; alluding.

3.bogus1838, "counterfeit money, spurious coin," American English, apparently from a slang word applied (according to some sources first in Ohio in 1827) to a counterfeiter's apparatus.
One bogus or machine impressing dies on the coin, with a number of dies, engraving tools, bank bill paper, spurious coin, &c. &c. making in all a large wagon load, was taken into possession by the attorney general of Lower Canada. [Niles' Register, Sept. 7, 1833, quoting from Concord, New Hampshire, "Statesman," Aug. 24]
Some trace this to tantrabobus, also tantrabogus, a late 18c. colloquial Vermont word for any odd-looking object, in later 19c. use "the devil," which might be connected to tantarabobs, recorded as a Devonshire name for the devil. Others trace it to the same source as bogey (n.1).

4.curry (v.)late 13c., "to rub down a horse," from Anglo-French curreier "to curry-comb a horse," from Old French correier "put in order, prepare, curry," from con-, intensive prefix (see com-), + reier "arrange," from a Germanic source (see ready). Related: Curried; currying.
curry (n.) Look up curry at Dictionary.com
the spice, 1680s, from Tamil kari "sauce, relish for rice."

5.denote (v.)1590s, from Middle French dénoter (14c.), from Latin denotare "denote, mark out," from de- "completely" (see de-) + notare "to mark, note, make a note" (see note (v.)). Related: Denoted; denoting.

6.impious (adj.)1590s, "irreligious, lacking reverence for God," from Latin impius "without reverence, irreverent, wicked; undutiful, unpatriotic," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + pius (see pious). Related: Impiously; impiousness.

7.insidious (adj.)1540s, from Middle French insidieux "insidious" (15c.) or directly from Latin insidiosus "deceitful, cunning, artful, treacherous," from insidiae (plural) "plot, snare, ambush," from insidere "sit on, occupy," from in- "in" (see in- (2)) + sedere "to sit" (see sedentary). Figurative, usually with a suggestion of lying in wait and the intent to entrap. Related: Insidiously; insidiousness.

8.intrinsic (adj.)late 15c., "interior, inward, internal," from Middle French intrinsèque "inner" (14c.), from Medieval Latin intrinsecus "interior, internal," from Latin intrinsecus (adv.) "inwardly, on the inside," from intra "within" (see intra-) + secus "along, alongside," from PIE *sekw-os- "following," suffixed form of root *sekw- (1) "to follow" (see sequel).
The form in English was conformed to words in -ic by 18c. Meaning "belonging to the nature of a thing" is from 1640s. Related: Intrinsical; intrinsically.

9.nutritive (adj.) Look up nutritive at Dictionary.comlate 14c., from Old French nutritif and directly from Medieval Latin nutritivus "nourishing," from past participle stem of Latin nutrire "to nourish" (see nourish).

10.pall (n.)Old English pæll "rich cloth or cloak, purple robe, altar cloth," from Latin pallium "cloak, coverlet, covering," in Tertullian, the garment worn by Christians instead of the Roman toga; related to pallo "robe, cloak," palla "long upper garment of Roman women," perhaps from the root of pellis "skin." Notion of "cloth spread over a coffin" (mid-15c.) led to figurative sense of "dark, gloomy mood" (1742).
pall (v.)
"become tiresome," 1700, from Middle English pallen "to become faint, fail in strength" (late 14c.), shortened form of appallen "to dismay, fill with horror or disgust" (see appall). Related: Palled; palling.

11.potpourri (n.)also pot-pourri, 1610s, "mixed meats served in a stew," from French pot pourri "stew," literally "rotten pot" (loan-translation of Spanish olla podrida), from pourri, past participle of pourrir "to rot," from Vulgar Latin *putrire, from Latin putrescere "grow rotten" (see putrescent). Notion of "medley" led to meaning "mixture of dried flowers and spices," first recorded in English 1749. Figurative sense (originally in music) of "miscellaneous collection" is recorded from 1855.

12.proffer (v.)"to offer," late 13c., from Anglo-French profrier (mid-13c.), Old French poroffrir (11c.), from por- "forth" (from Latin pro; see pro-) + offrir "to offer," from Latin offerre (see offer (v.)). Related: Proffered; proffering. As a noun from late 14c.

13.propriety (n.)mid-15c., "proper character, disposition," from Old French proprieté "individuality, peculiarity; property" (12c.), from Latin proprietatem (nominative proprietas) "appropriateness," also "ownership" (see property). Meaning "fitness, appropriateness" is attested from 1610s; sense of "conformity to good manners" is from 1782.

14.raucous (adj.)1769, from Latin raucus "hoarse" (also source of French rauque, Spanish ronco, Italian rauco), related to ravus "hoarse," from PIE echoic base *reu- "make hoarse cries" (source also of Sanskrit rayati "barks," ravati "roars;" Greek oryesthai "to howl, roar;" Latin racco "a roar;" Old Church Slavonic rjevo "I roar;" Lithuanian rekti "roar;" Old English rarian "to wail, bellow"). Middle English had rauc in the same sense, from the same source.

15.sanction (v.)1778, "confirm by sanction, make valid or binding;" 1797 as "to permit authoritatively;" from sanction (n.). Seemingly contradictory meaning "impose a penalty on" is from 1956 but is rooted in an old legalistic sense of the noun. Related: Sanctioned; sanctioning.
sanction (n.)early 15c., "confirmation or enactment of a law," from Latin sanctionem (nominative sanctio) "act of decreeing or ordaining," also "decree, ordinance," noun of action from past participle stem of sancire "to decree, confirm, ratify, make sacred" (see saint (n.)). Originally especially of ecclesiastical decrees.

16.satiety (n.)1530s, from Middle French satiété, from Latin satietatem (nominative satietas) "abundance, sufficiency, fullness," from satis "enough," from PIE root *sa- "to satisfy" (see sad).

17.shibboleth (n.)late 14c., the Hebrew word shibboleth, meaning "flood, stream," also "ear of corn;" in Judges xii.4-6. It was the password used by the Gileadites to distinguish their own men from fleeing Ephraimites, because Ephraimites could not pronounce the -sh- sound. Hence the figurative sense of "watchword" (first recorded 1630s), which evolved by 1862 to "outmoded slogan still adhered to." A similar test-word was cicera "chick pease," used by the Italians to identify the French (who could not pronounce it correctly) during the massacre called the Sicilian Vespers (1282).

18.spate (n.)early 15c., originally Scottish and northern English, "a sudden flood, especially one caused by heavy rains or a snowmelt," of unknown origin. Perhaps from Old French espoit "flood," from Dutch spuiten "to flow, spout;" related to spout (v.). Figurative sense of "unusual quantity" is attested from 1610s.

19.substantiate (v.)1650s, "to make real, to give substance to," from Modern Latin substantiatus, past participle of substantiare, from Latin substantia "being, essence, material" (see substance). Meaning "to demonstrate or prove" is attested from 1803. Related: Substantiated; substantiating.
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20.succulent (adj.)c. 1600, from French succulent (16c.), from Latin succulentus "having juice, juicy," from succus "juice, sap;" related to sugere "to suck," and possibly cognate with Old English socian "to soak," sucan "to suck" (see sup (v.2)). The noun meaning "plant with juicy tissues" is from 1825.

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WEEK 42

1.artifice (n.)1530s, "workmanship, the making of anything by craft or skill," from Middle French artifice "skill, cunning" (14c.), from Latin artificium "a profession, trade, employment, craft; making by art," from artifex (genitive artificis) "craftsman, artist," from stem of ars "art" (see art (n.)) + facere "to make, do" (see factitious). Meaning "device, trick" (the usual modern sense) is from 1650s.

2.artless (adj.)1580s, "unskillful," from art (n.) + -less. Later also "uncultured" (1590s); then "unartificial, natural" (1670s) and "guileless, ingenuous" (1714). Related: Artlessly; artlessness.

3.begrudge (v.)mid-14c., from be- + Middle English grucchen "to murmur" (see grudge). Related: Begrudged; begrudging; begrudgingly.

4.blase (adj."bored from overindulgence," 1819, from French blasé, past participle of blaser "to satiate" (17c.), which is of unknown origin. Perhaps from Dutch blazen "to blow" (related to English blast), with a sense of "puffed up under the effects of drinking."

5.callous (adj.)c. 1400, "hardened," in the physical sense, from Latin callosus "thick-skinned," from callus, callum "hard skin" (see callus). The figurative sense of "unfeeling" appeared in English by 1670s. Related: Callously; callousness.

6.capricious (adj.)1590s, from French capricieux "whimsical" (16c.), from Italian capriccioso, from capriccio (see caprice). Related: Capriciously; capriciousness.

7.comely (adj.)"beautiful, handsome," c. 1400, probably from Old English cymlic "lovely, splendid, finely made," from cyme "exquisite, glorious, delicate," from West Germanic *kumi- "delicate, feeble" (source also of Old High German chumo "with difficulty," chumig "weak, delicate;" German kaum "hardly, scarcely"). Or perhaps the modern word is from Middle English bicumelic (c. 1200) "suitable, exquisite," literally "becomely" (compare becoming).

8.delve (v.)Old English delfan "to dig" (class III strong verb; past tense dealf, past participle dolfen), common West Germanic verb (cognates: Old Saxon delban, Dutch delven, Middle High German telben "to dig"), from PIE root *dhelbh- (source also of Lithuanian delba "crowbar," Russian dolbit', Czech dlabati, Polish dłubać "to chisel;" Russian dolotó, Czech dlato, Polish dłuto "chisel"). Weak inflections emerged 14c.-16c. Related: Delved; delving.

9.diversity (n.)mid-14c., "quality of being diverse," mostly in a neutral sense, from Old French diversité (12c.) "difference, diversity, unique feature, oddness:" also "wickedness, perversity," from Latin diversitatem (nominative diversitas) "contrariety, contradiction, disagreement;" also, as a secondary sense, "difference, diversity," from diversus "turned different ways" (in Late Latin "various"), past participle of divertere (see divert).
Negative meaning, "being contrary to what is agreeable or right; perversity, evil" existed in English from late 15c. but was obsolete from 17c. Diversity as a virtue in a nation is an idea from the rise of modern democracies in the 1790s, where it kept one faction from arrogating all power (but this was not quite the modern sense, as ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, etc. were not the qualities in mind):
The dissimilarity in the ingredients which will compose the national government, and still more in the manner in which they will be brought into action in its various branches, must form a powerful obstacle to a concert of views in any partial scheme of elections. There is sufficient diversity in the state of property, in the genius, manners, and habits of the people of the different parts of the Union, to occasion a material diversity of disposition in their representatives towards the different ranks and conditions in society. ["The Federalist," No. 60, Feb. 26, 1788 (Hamilton)]
Specific focus (in a positive sense) on race, gender, etc. is from 1992.

10.ennui (n.)1660s as a French word in English; nativized by 1758; from French ennui, from Old French enui "annoyance" (13c.), back-formation from enuier (see annoy). Hence ennuyé (adj.) "afflicted with ennui," and thence ennuyée (n.) for a woman so afflicted.
So far as frequency of use is concerned, the word might be regarded as fully naturalized; but the pronunciation has not been anglicized, there being in fact no Eng. analogy which could serve as a guide. [OED]

11.expedient (adj.)late 14c., "advantageous, fit, proper to a purpose," from Old French expedient "useful, beneficial" (14c.) or directly from Latin expedientem (nominative expediens) "beneficial," present participle of expedire "make fit or ready, prepare" (see expedite). The noun meaning "a device adopted in an exigency, that which serves to advance a desired result" is from 1650s. Related: Expediential; expedientially (both 19c.).
Expedient, contrivance, and device indicate artificial means of escape from difficulty or embarrassment; resource indicates natural means or something possessed; resort and shift may indicate either. [Century Dictionary]

12.expurgate (v.)1620s, "to purge" (in anatomy), back-formation from expurgation or from Latin expurgatus, past participle of expurgare "to cleanse out, purge, purify." Related: Expurgated; expurgating. The earlier verb was simply expurge (late 15c.), from Middle French expurger. Meaning "remove (something offensive or erroneous) from" is from 1670s.

13.frenetic (adj.)late 14c., frenetik, "temporarily deranged, delirious, crazed," from Old French frenetike "mad, crazy" (13c.), from Latin phreneticus "delirious," alteration of Greek phrenitikos, from phrenitis "frenzy," literally "inflammation of the brain," from phren "mind, reason," also "diaphragm" (see phreno-) + -itis "inflammation." The classical ph- sometimes was restored from mid-16c. (see phrenetic). Related: Frenetical; frenetically. Compare frantic.

14.frenetic (adj.)late 14c., frenetik, "temporarily deranged, delirious, crazed," from Old French frenetike "mad, crazy" (13c.), from Latin phreneticus "delirious," alteration of Greek phrenitikos, from phrenitis "frenzy," literally "inflammation of the brain," from phren "mind, reason," also "diaphragm" (see phreno-) + -itis "inflammation." The classical ph- sometimes was restored from mid-16c. (see phrenetic). Related: Frenetical; frenetically. Compare frantic.

15.manifest (v.)late 14c., "to spread" (one's fame), "to show plainly," from manifest (adj.) or else from Latin manifestare "to discover, disclose, betray" (see manifest (adj.)). Meaning "to display by actions" is from 1560s; reflexive sense, of diseases, etc., "to reveal as in operation" is from 1808. Related: Manifested; manifesting.

16.negligible (adj.)"capable of being neglected," 1819, from negligence + -ible. Related: Negligibly; negligibility.

17.qualm (n.)Old English cwealm (West Saxon) "death, murder, slaughter; disaster; plague; torment," utcualm (Anglian) "utter destruction," probably related to cwellan "to kill, murder, execute," cwelan "to die" (see quell). Sense softened to "feeling of faintness" 1520s; figurative meaning "uneasiness, doubt" is from 1550s; that of "scruple of conscience" is 1640s.
Evidence of a direct path from the Old English to the modern senses is wanting, but it is plausible, via the notion of "fit of sickness." The other suggested etymology, less satisfying, is to take the "fit of uneasiness" sense from Dutch kwalm "steam, vapor, mist" (cognate with German Qualm "smoke, vapor, stupor"), which also might be ultimately from the same Germanic root as quell.

18.quandary (n.)"state of perplexity," 1570s, of unknown origin, perhaps a quasi-Latinism based on Latin quando "when? at what time?; at the time that, inasmuch," pronominal adverb of time, related to qui "who" (see who). Originally accented on the second syllable.

19.replenish (v.)mid-14c., from Old French repleniss-, extended present participle stem of replenir "to fill up," from re-, here probably an intensive prefix, + -plenir, from Latin plenus "full" (see plenary). Related: Replanished; replenishing.
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20.requisite (adj.)mid-15c., from Latin requisitus, past participle of requirere (see require). As a noun from c. 1600.