11.3: §78. Interesting Words
As you may have begun to notice, the most intriguing denominatives are those that involve Latin prefixes. To exonerate ( ex-oner-are , ex-oner-atus ) is “to get someone out from under a load.” To inseminate ( in-semin-are ) is “to put seed into”; and to disseminate ( dis-semin-are ) is “to spread seed apart (in different directions).” To ejaculate ( e-jacul-are ) is to hurl out verbal or seminal missiles (a jac-ulum is a “throw-thing”). People with a good knowledge of Latin are likely to understand such words by calling to mind their etymological meanings, either consciously or unconsciously. Those etymological meanings may be quite straightforward, like rejuvenation ( re-juven-at-io ), “becoming a young man again”; or less obvious, like elimination ( e-limin-at-io ), “[casting] out of the threshold.” Eradication ( e-radic-at-io ) is “a rooting out” ( radix , radic-is [1] )—a radical solution, whereas annihilation ( ad-nihil-atio ) is a reduction “to nothing” ( nihil ). Evisceration ( e-viscer-at-io ) means tearing out the guts ( viscera ); excoriation ( ex – cori-at-io ) is ripping off the skin or hide ( corium )—metaphorically flaying alive. Some denominatives seem to be brutally in-timid-at-ing!
Even without prefixes, denominatives can be fascin-at-ing (“spellbinding”). Does everyone know that insulation creates an island ( insula )? [2] It is a doublet of isolation , which came into English from Italian (through French). Fluctuation is the motion of a wave (the 4th declension noun fluctus ). To fulminate is to wield Jupiter’s thunderbolt ( fulmen , fulmin-is ), when you are aroused to Olympian fury. To fornicate is to play around under the vaulted arches ( fornic-es ), a popular locale for ancient Roman brothels; don’t confuse it with the rare word formicate —to swarm with ants ( formic-ae ). [3]
Some interesting things can happen with the -atus ending of the perfect participle, when it is modified by various Romance languages. In Spanish, the feminine form -ata regularly became -ada , as we see in the Spanish armada , an “armed” fleet. (The Latin noun arma , “arms,” produced the denominative arm-are , arm-atus .) The -ata > -ada change occurred also in Old Provençal, which is the ultimate source of English salad (“something salted,” < sal-are , sal-atus ) and ballad (originally “something danced,” < Late Latin ball-are , ball-atus ). In French, however, that same -ata ending regularly evolved into – é or – é e , the form of the 1st conjugation French past participle. Therefore a rmata became arme ! e , the etymon of English army . This means that army and armada are doublets.
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Here is the source of the English word
radish
. ↵
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When the development firm of Cadillac-Fairview was planning the new Eaton’s Centre in Victoria, a senior representative proudly announced, with grand solemnity, that the complex would feature both insulation and “outsulation.” He should have been excoriated, if not eviscerated, on the spot. ↵
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The Latin word for “oven” or “kiln” was
fornax, fornacis
(> E
furnace
). In classical Latin, there was actually a denominative agent noun
fornacator
, which meant “stoker.” It is probably just as well that we don’t have to distinguish in English between
fornicator
and
fornacator
. (The
fornicator
may end up stoking furnaces in the great hereafter.) ↵