by Dwane | Sep 20, 2014 | Education, English, Latin, Vocabulary
Acupuncture: a jab well done; a form of medicine that pricks the skin with needles to alleviate pain. I find Noah Webster’s old definition interesting. “Among the Chinese, a surgical operation, performed by pricking the part affected with a needle.” From Latin Latin...
by Dwane | Sep 19, 2014 | Education, English, Greek, Vocabulary
Acrolith: a stone head, a statue with a wooden body and head of stone. The U.S. government isn’t the only nation to debase. The “brilliant” powers that be have replaced the silver in our coins with cheaper metals. This official trickery is nothing new. In ancient...
by Dwane | Sep 19, 2014 | Education, English, Latin, Vocabulary
Acuminate: ending in a sharp point. Look for this word in Botany books. Acuminate leaves are leaves that get to the point. Acuminate comes from the Latin verb acuminare (to sharpen to a point). It is related to the Latin word for needle,...
by Dwane | Sep 18, 2014 | Education, English, Latin, Vocabulary
Ablative: a certain case of Latin nouns. The word derives from ablatus, which is from aufero, (to carry away), ultimately from ab (away) and fero (I carry). In it’s original sense, we use the ablative case when describing actions of carrying something away, or taking...
by Dwane | Sep 17, 2014 | Education, English, Latin, Vocabulary
Disabuse: To free from a mistaken belief or error; to undeceive; to disengage from fallacy or deception; to set right. It is our duty to disabuse ourselves of false notions and prejudices. Disabuse comes from the Latin prefix dis- (away) and the verb abusus sum...
