by Dwane | Mar 31, 2015 | Education, English, Latin, Vocabulary
Biped: a two footed animal. A two footed being. The Latin adverb bis, means twice, two, or two times. The Latin word for foot is pes. The genitive of foot is pedis. Combine both and you end up with biped, a two footed creature. According to Plato, man is a featherless...
by Dwane | Mar 30, 2015 | Education, English, Greek, Latin, Vocabulary
I am increasingly stunned by the debt English owes to Latin and Greek. Perhaps this is simply because I never seriously studied vocabulary as a child. Perhaps this, for everyone else, is general knowledge. Perhaps everyone knows Latin and Greek dumped boatloads of...
by Dwane | Mar 28, 2015 | Ebook, Education, English, Vocabulary
Chevalier: In the old days, a chevalier was a knight. This definition is now considered obsolete. Instead, a chevalier is now a gallant, or chivalrous man. A chevalier can also be someone who keeps their word. You can see the root meaning if you look closely. After...
by Dwane | Mar 27, 2015 | Ebook, Education, English, Italian, Latin, Vocabulary
Cavalry: Once upon a time, soldiers who fought on horseback. These days, soldiers who fight from armored vehicles. Cavalry made its way into the English language from French. The French word cavalerie likely came from Italian cavalleria. Naturally, cavalleria...
by Dwane | Mar 26, 2015 | Ebook, Education, English, Latin
Cavalier Well, this word is tricky. Better to begin with the etymology. Cavalier comes from the Latin word caballarius, meaning, a horseman. Caballarius derives from the Latin word for horse, caballus. Caballus is the common, Vulgar Latin word for horse. It...
