Saint Christopher

Saint Christopher is venerated by several Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Emperor Decius (reigned 249–251) or alternatively under the Roman Emperor Maximinus II Dacian (reigned 308–313). There appears to be confusion due to the similarity in names "Decius" and "Dacian". However his veneration only appears late in Christian tradition, and did not become widespread in the Western Church until the Late Middle Ages, although churches and monasteries were named after him by the 7th century.

When I Was One-and-Twenty

BY A. E. HOUSMAN

 

When I was one-and-twenty

       I heard a wise man say,

“Give crowns and pounds and guineas

       But not your heart away;

Give pearls away and rubies

       But keep your fancy free.”

But I was one-and-twenty,

       No use to talk to me.

 

When I was one-and-twenty

       I heard him say again,

“The heart out of the bosom

       Was never given in vain;

’Tis paid with sighs a plenty

       And sold for endless rue.”

And I am two-and-twenty,

       And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.

 

Do not go gentle into that good night

By Dylan Thomas

 

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

 

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

 

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

*impede (v.)

Delay or prevent (someone or something) by obstructing them; hinder:

Ex: the sap causes swelling which can impede breathing.

Origin: Late 16th century: from Latin impedire shackle the feet of, based on pes, ped- foot. Compare with impeach.

 

   *cacophony (n.)

    A harsh discordant mixture of sounds:

Ex: a cacophony of deafening alarm bells.

Origin: Mid 17th century: from French cacophonie, from Greek kakophōnia, from kakophōnosill-sounding, from kakos bad + phōnē sound.

  *serenity (n.)

   [mass noun] The state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled:                          Ex: an oasis of serenity amidst the bustling city.                                                Origin: Late Middle English: from Old French serenite, from Latin serenitas,          from serenus clear, fair (see serene).

vulnerable (adj.)

c. 1600, from Late Latin vulnerabilis "wounding," from Latin vulnerare "to wound, hurt, injure, maim," from vulnus (genitive vulneris) "wound," perhaps related to vellere "pluck, to tear" (see svelte), or from PIE *wele-nes-, from *wele- (2) "to strike, wound" (see Valhalla).

 

bedlam (n.)

"scene of mad confusion," 1660s, from colloquial pronunciation of "Hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem" in London, founded 1247 as a priory, mentioned as a hospital 1330 and as a lunatic hospital 1402; converted to a state lunatic asylum on dissolution of the monasteries in 1547. It was spelled Bedlem in a will from 1418, and Betleem is recorded as a spelling of Bethlehem in Judea from 971.

 

cacophony (n.)

1650s, from Greek kakophonia, from kakophonos "harsh sounding," from kakos "bad, evil" (see caco-) + phone "voice, sound," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say" (see fame (n.)). Related: Cacophonous.

 

exploit (v.)

c. 1400, espleiten, esploiten "to accomplish, achieve, fulfill," from Old French esploitier, espleiter "carry out, perform, accomplish," from esploit (see exploit (n.)). The sense of "use selfishly" first recorded 1838, from a sense development in French perhaps from use of the word with reference to mines, etc. (compare exploitation). Related: Exploited; exploiting.

 

propinquity (n.)

late 14c., "nearness in relation, kinship," later also "physical nearness" (early 15c.), from Old French propinquite (13c.) and directly from Latin propinquitatem (nominative propinquitas) "nearness, vicinity; relationship, affinity," from propinquus "near, neighboring," from prope "near" (enlarged from PIE *pro "before;" see pro-) + suffix -inquus.

disgruntled (adj.)

past participle adjective from disgruntle.

 

infallible (adj.)

"exempt from error in judgment, knowledge, or opinion," early 15c., from Medieval Latin infallibilis, from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + Late Latin fallibilis (see fallible). In reference to Popes, attested from 1870, hence infallibilism, the doctrine of this; infallibilist. Related: Infallibly.

 

panacea (n.)

"universal remedy," 1540s, from Latin panacea, a herb (variously identified) that would heal all illnesses, from Greek panakeia "cure-all," from panakes "all-healing," from pan- "all" (see pan-) + akos "cure," from iasthai "to heal" (see -iatric). Earlier in English as panace (1510s).

 

eradicate (v.)

early 15c., "destroy utterly," literally "pull up by the roots," from Latin eradicatus, past participle of eradicare "to root out, annihilate" (see eradication). Related: Eradicated; eradicating; eradicable.

sedate (adj.)

"calm, quiet," 1660s, from Latin sedatus "composed, moderate, quiet, tranquil," past participle of sedare "to settle, calm," causative of sedere "to sit" (see sedentary). Related: Sedately.

 

equanimity (n.)

c. 1600, "fairness, impartiality," from French équanimité, from Latin aequanimitatem (nominative aequanimitas) "evenness of mind, calmness; good-will, kindness," from aequanimis "mild, kind," literally "even-minded," from aequus "even, level" (see equal (adj.)) + animus "mind, spirit" (see animus). Meaning "evenness of temper" in English is from 1610s.

 

compatible (adj.)

mid-15c., from Middle French compatible (15c.), from Medieval Latin compatibilis, from Late Latin compati (see compassion). Related: Compatibility.

 

revere (v.)

1660s, from French révérer, from Latin revereri "revere, fear" (see reverence (n.), which also was the earlier form of the verb). Related: Revered; revering.

 

irrational (adj.)

late 15c., "not endowed with reason" (of beasts, etc.), from Latin irrationalis/inrationalis "without reason, not rational," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + rationalis "of or belonging to reason, reasonable" (see rational (adj.)).

 

avarice (n.)

c. 1300, from Old French avarice "greed, covetousness" (12c.), from Latin avaritia "greed," from avarus "greedy," adjectival form of avere "crave, long for."

 

insatiable (adj.)

early 15c., insaciable, from Old French insaciable "ravenous" (15c., Modern French insatiable), or directly from Latin insatiabilis "not to be satisfied," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + satiabilis, from satiare (see satiate). Related: Insatiably; insatiableness.

 

nadir (n.)

late 14c., in astronomical sense, from Medieval Latin nadir, from Arabic nazir "opposite to," in nazir as-samt, literally "opposite direction," from nazir "opposite" + as-samt "road, path" (see zenith). Transferred sense of "lowest point (of anything)" is first recorded 1793.

 

moribund (adj.)

1721, "about to die," from Middle French moribund (16c.), from Latin moribundus "dying, at the point of death," from mori "to die" (see mortal (adj.)). Figurative sense of "near an end" is from 1837. Related: Moribundity.

lithe (adj.)

Old English liðe "soft, mild, gentle, calm, meek," also, of persons, "gracious, kind, agreeable," from Proto-Germanic *linthja- (source also of Old Saxon lithi "soft, mild, gentle," Old High German lindi, German lind, Old Norse linr "soft to the touch, gentle, mild, agreeable," with characteristic loss of "n" before "th" in English), from PIE root *lento- "flexible" (source also of Latin lentus "flexible, pliant, slow," Sanskrit lithi).

 

obese (adj.)

1650s, back-formation from obesity and in part from Latin obesus "fat, stout, plump," past participle of obedere "that has eaten itself fat" (see obesity). According to OED, "Rare before 19th c." Related: Obeseness. Latin obesus was translated in Old English as oferfæt "overfat."

 

adherent (adj.)

late 14c., "sticking, clinging to, adhesive," from Old French adherent or directly from Latin adhaerentem (nominative adhaerens), present participle of adhaerere "stick to," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + haerere "to stick" (past participle haesus; see hesitation).

 

bliss (n.)

Old English blis, also bliðs "bliss, merriment, happiness, grace, favor," from Proto-Germanic *blithsjo (source also of Old Saxon blidsea, blizza), from *blithiz "gentle, kind" + *-tjo noun suffix. Originally mostly of earthly happiness; influenced by association with bless and blithe.

 

pathetic (adj.)

1590s, "affecting the emotions, exciting the passions," from Middle French pathétique "moving, stirring, affecting" (16c.), from Late Latin patheticus, from Greek pathetikos "subject to feeling, sensitive, capable of emotion," from pathetos "liable to suffer," verbal adjective of pathein "to suffer" (see pathos). Meaning "arousing pity, pitiful" is first recorded 1737. Colloquial sense of "so miserable as to be ridiculous" is attested from 1937. Related: Pathetical (1570s); pathetically. Pathetic fallacy (1856, first used by Ruskin) is the attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects.

exhort (v.)

c. 1400, "to exhort, encourage," from Old French exhorer (13c.) and directly from Latin exhortari "to exhort, encourage, stimulate" (see exhortation). Related: Exhorted; exhorting.

 

apathy (n.)

c. 1600, "freedom from suffering," from French apathie (16c.), from Latin apathia, from Greek apatheia "freedom from suffering, impassability, want of sensation," from apathes "without feeling, without suffering or having suffered," from a- "without" (see a- (3)) + pathos "emotion, feeling, suffering" (see pathos). Originally a positive quality; sense of "indolence of mind, indifference to what should excite" is from c. 1733.

 

fracas (n.)

1727, from French fracas "crash, sudden noise; tumult, bustle, fuss" (15c.), from Italian fracasso "uproar, crash," back-formation from fracassare "to smash, crash, break in pieces," from fra-, a shortening of Latin infra "below" (see infra-) + Italian cassare "to break," from Latin quassare "to shake" (see quash).

 

inebriated (adj.)

"drunken," c. 1600, past participle adjective from inebriate. The earlier adjective was inebriate (late 15c.).

 

adversary (n.)

"unfriendly opponent, enemy" (originally especially of Satan as the enemy of mankind), mid-14c., aduersere, from Anglo-French adverser (13c.), Old French adversarie (12c., Modern French adversaire) "hostile opponent, enemy," or directly from Latin adversarius "an opponent, rival, enemy," noun use of adjective meaning "opposite, hostile, contrary," literally "turned toward one," from adversus "turned against, turned toward, fronting, facing," figuratively "hostile, adverse, unfavorable," past participle of advertere "to turn toward," from ad "to" (see ad-) + vertere "to turn, turn back, be turned; convert, transform, translate; be changed" (see versus). The Latin word is glossed in Old English by wiðerbroca.

indolent (adj.)

1660s, "causing no pain, painless," from French indolent (16c.) or directly from Late Latin indolentem (see indolence). Sense of "living easily, slothful," is 1710, a sense perhaps developed in French. Related: Indolently.

 

gusto (n.)

1620s, "very common from the beginning of the 19th c." [OED], from Italian gusto "taste," from Latin gustus "a tasting," related to gustare "to taste, take a little of," from PIE *gus-tu-, suffixed form of root *geus- "to taste, choose" (source also of Sanskrit jus- "enjoy, be pleased," Avestan zaosa- "pleasure," Old Persian dauš- "enjoy"). The root forms words for "taste" in Greek and Latin, but its descendants in Germanic and Celtic mostly mean "try" or "choose" (such as Old English cosan, cesan, Modern English choose; Gothic kausjan "to test, to taste of," Old High German koston "try," German kosten "taste of"). The semantic development could have been in either direction. English first borrowed the French form, guste "organ of taste; sense of taste" (mid-15c.), but this became obsolete.

 

garrulous (adj.)

1610s, from Latin garrulus "talkative, chattering," from garrire "to chatter," from PIE root *gar- "to call, cry," of imitative origin (compare Greek gerys "voice, sound," Ossetic zar "song," Welsh garm, Old Irish gairm "noise, cry"). Related: Garrulously; garrulousness.

 

banal (adj.)

"trite, commonplace," 1840, from French banal, "belonging to a manor, common, hackneyed, commonplace," from Old French banel "communal" (13c.), from ban "decree; legal control; announcement; authorization; payment for use of a communal oven, mill, etc." (see ban (v.)). The modern sense evolved from the word's use in designating things like ovens or mills that belonged to feudal serfs, or else compulsory military service; in either case it was generalized in French through "open to everyone" to "commonplace, ordinary," to "trite, petty."

 

platitude (n.)

1812, "dullness," from French platitude "flatness, vapidness" (late 17c.), from Old French plat "flat" (see plateau (n.)); formed on analogy of latitude, etc. Meaning "a flat, dull, or commonplace remark" is recorded from 1815. Related: Platitudinous. Hence platitudinarian (n.), 1855; platitudinize (1867).

pique (n.)

1530s, "fit of ill feeling," from Middle French pique "a prick, sting, irritation," noun of action from piquer (see pike (n.2)).

 

dilettante (n.)

1733, borrowing of Italian dilettante "lover of music or painting," from dilettare "to delight," from Latin delectare (see delight (n.)). Originally without negative connotation, "devoted amateur," the pejorative sense emerged late 18c. by contrast with professional.

 

atypical (adj.)

1847, from a- (2) "not" + typical. Related: Atypically.

 

nondescript (adj.)

1680s, "not hitherto described," in scientific usage, coined from non- + Latin descriptus, past participle of describere (see describe). General sense of "not easily described or classified" is from 1806.

 

wane (v.)

Old English wanian "make or become smaller gradually, diminish, decline, fade," from Proto-Germanic *wanen (source also of Old Saxon wanon, Old Norse vana, Old Frisian wania, Middle Dutch waenen, Old High German wanon "to wane, to grow less"), from *wano- "lacking," from PIE *we-no-, from root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out" (see vain). Related: Waned; waning; wanes.

extinct (adj.)

early 15c., "extinguished, quenched," from Latin extinctus/exstinctus, past participle of extinguere/exstinguere "to put out, quench; go out, die out; kill, destroy" (see extinguish). Originally of fires; in reference to the condition of a family or a hereditary title that has "died out," from 1580s; of species by 1690s. Shakespeare uses it as a verb. Compare extinction.

 

idyllic (adj.)

"full of natural, simple charm," 1831, literally "suitable for an idyll" from French idyllique or else from idyll + -ic. In late 18c. it meant "pertaining to an idyll."

 

galvanize (v.)

1801, "stimulate by galvanic electricity," from French galvaniser, from galvanisme (see galvanism). Figurative sense of "excite, stimulate (as if by electricity)" first recorded 1853 (galvanic was in figurative use in 1807). Meaning "to coat with metal by means of galvanic electricity" (especially to plate iron with tin, but now typically to plate it with zinc) is from 1839.

 

encumbrance (n.)

c. 1300, "trouble, difficulty; ensnarement, temptation," from Old French encombrance "encumbrance, obstruction; calamity, trouble," from encombrer (see encumber). Meaning "that which encumbers, impediment, obstacle" is from late 14c. in English.

 

gaudy (adj.)

"showy, tastelessly rich," c. 1600; earlier "joyfully festive" (1580s), probably a re-adjectivizing of gaudy (n.) "large, ornamental bead in a rosary" (early 14c.) via the noun gaud + -y (2.). In early Modern English it also could mean "full of trickery" (1520s).

condescend (adj.)

mid-14c., "to yield deferentially," from Old French condescendere (14c.) "to agree, consent, give in, yield," from Late Latin condescendere "to let oneself down," from Latin com "with, together" (see com-) + descendere "descend" (see descend). Sense of "to sink willingly to equal terms with inferiors" is from mid-15c.

 

candor (n.)

"openness of mind, impartiality, frankness," c. 1600, from Latin candor "purity, openness," originally "whiteness," from candere "to shine, to be white" (see candle). Borrowed earlier in English (c. 1500) with the Latin literal sense "extreme whiteness."

 

mortify (v.)

late 14c., "to kill," from Old French mortefiier "destroy, overwhelm, punish," from Late Latin mortificare "cause death, kill, put to death," literally "make dead," from mortificus "producing death," from Latin mors (genitive mortis) "death" (see mortal (adj.)) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Religious sense of "to subdue the flesh by abstinence and discipline" first attested early 15c. Sense of "humiliate" first recorded 1690s (compare mortification). Related: Mortified; mortifying.

 

jocose (adj.)

"given to jokes and jesting," 1670s, from Latin iocosus "full of jesting, fond of jokes, funny," from iocus "pastime, sport; a jest, joke" (see joke (n.)). Often it implies ponderous humor (compare jocund). Related: Jocosely; jocoseness.

 

malign (v.)

"to slander," mid-15c., from earlier more literal sense of "to plot, to contrive" (early 15c.), from Old French malignier "to plot, deceive, pervert," from Late Latin malignare "to do maliciously," from malignus "mean, unkind" (see malign (adj.)). Related: Maligned; maligning.

omnipotent (adj.)

early 14c., from Old French omnipotent "almighty, all-powerful" (11c.) or directly from Latin omnipotentem (nominative omnipotens) "all-powerful, almighty," from omnis "all" (see omni-) + potens (genitive potentis) "powerful" (see potent). Strictly only of God or a deity; general sense of "having absolute power or authority" is attested from 1590s.

 

 

zenith (n.)

"point of the heavens directly overhead at any place," late 14c., from Old French cenith (Modern French zénith), from Medieval Latin cenit, senit, bungled scribal transliterations of Arabic samt "road, path," abbreviation of samt ar-ras, literally "the way over the head." Letter -m- misread as -ni-.

 

fledgling

also fledgeling, 1830, "untried" (adj.), in Tennyson; 1846 as a noun meaning "young bird" (one newly fledged); from fledge + diminutive suffix -ling. Of persons, from 1856.

 

peremptory (adj.)

"decisive," mid-15c., legal term, from Anglo-French peremptorie, from Middle French peremtoire, from Latin peremptorius "destructive, decisive, final," from peremptor "destroyer," from perimpere "destroy, cut off," from per "away entirely, to destruction" (see per) + emere "to take" (see exempt (adj.)). Of persons or their words, "certain, assured, brooking no debate," 1580s. Related: Peremptorily.

 

precedent (n.)

early 15c., "case which may be taken as a rule in similar cases," from Middle French precedent, noun use of an adjective, from Latin praecedentum (nominative praecedens), present participle of praecedere "go before" (see precede). Meaning "thing or person that goes before another" is attested from mid-15c. As an adjective in English from c. 1400. As a verb meaning "to furnish with a precedent" from 1610s, now only in past participle precedented.

wheedle (v.)

"to influence by flattery," 1660s, of uncertain origin, perhaps connected with Old English wædlian "to beg," from wædl "poverty" [OED], or borrowed by English soldiers in the Thirty Years' War from German wedeln "wag the tail," hence "fawn, flatter" (compare adulation). Related: Wheedled; wheedling.

 

rustic (adj.)

mid-15c., from Latin rusticus "of the country, rural; country-like, plain, simple, rough, coarse, awkward," from rus (genitive ruris) "open land, country" (see rural). Noun meaning "a country person, peasant" is from 1550s (also in classical Latin). Related: Rustical (early 15c.).

 

jubilant (adj.)

1660s (Milton), from Latin iubilantem (nominative iubilans), present participle of iubilare "to let out whoops," in Christian writers, "to shout for joy," related to iubilum "wild shout," from Proto-Italic *iu, an exclamation of joy that probably was in Proto-Indo-European (cognates: Greek iu, an interjection of amazement, iuge "crying;" Middle High German ju, juch, an exclamation of joy; Dutch juichen, Old Norse yla, English yowl). With ending as in sibilant. Related: Jubilantly.

 

decorum (n.)

1560s, from Latin decorum "that which is seemly," noun use of neuter of adjective decorus "fit, proper," from decor (see decor).

 

charlatan (n.)

1610s, from French charlatan "mountebank, babbler" (16c.), from Italian ciarlatano "a quack," from ciarlare "to prate, babble," from ciarla "chat, prattle," perhaps imitative of ducks' quacking. Related: Charlatanism; charlatanical; charlatanry.