Understand “Philip” Through Etymology

Understand “Pandemic” Through Etymology

Understand “Corona” Through Etymology

The Etymology of “Corona”

Coronaviruses are a group of RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans, they cause mild to lethal respiratory tract infections. The name comes from the Latin “Corona”, meaning crown/wreath. These are so-called because they are surrounded by large, bulb-like structures, creating a solar corona (halo) like appearance.

Figures of Speech | #1 | Chiasmus

Chiasmus | As a figure of speech

Pronounced

Etymology

“Chiasmus comes from the Greek “chiasm” meaning “X”; or diagonal.

Meaning

Chiasmus is a rhetorical device, literally meaning “to shape like the letter Χ”, is a “reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses – but no repetition of words”.

This speech follows a diagonal structure.

For instance, the following sentence from Socrates, 5th Century B.C.

“Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.”

Let’s break this down into:
1. parts in the sentence
2. arguments (X & Y) in the sentence.

Break-Up #1 | The Parts in the Sentence

Break-Up #2 | The Arguments in the Sentence

X = type of men  | Y = their purpose

“X do (something) so that they Y, whereas X do Y that they get something else.”

As per www.literarydevices.net, we should notice that the second half of this sentence is an inverted form of the first half, both grammatically and logically. What must also be noticed that this reversal was achieved without repeating the words across both parts of the sentence.

More Details

• Chiasmus should not be confused for antimetabole, which also involves a reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses, but unlike chiasmus, it presents a repetition of words in an X-Y-Y-X configuration.
• E.g. “Live to eat; or eat to live.” would be the antimetabole way of saying the same thing, as it involves repetition of words in an X-Y-Y-X format

More Examples

1. “By day the frolic, and the dance by night.” — Samuel Johnson, The Vanity of Human Wishes (1794)
2. “Despised, if ugly; if she’s fair, betrayed.” — Mary Leapor, “Essay on Woman” (1751)

How to Cite This Logophilia Blog Post

If you want to cite this blog post from Logophilia in your research, choose one of the following formats.

MLA

Logophilia Education. https://logophilia.in/2020/04/10/figures-speech-1-chiasmus/ ‎. 11 April 2020. Dhruv Raj Sharma. <www.logophilia.in>

The Chicago Manual of Style

Logophilia Education. 2020. https://logophilia.in/2020/04/10/figures-speech-1-chiasmus/ ‎. Dhruv Raj Sharma. April 11. www.logophilia.in.

APA

Logophilia Education. (2020, April 11). https://logophilia.in/2020/04/10/figures-speech-1-chiasmus/ ‎. (D. R. Sharma, Producer, & Logophilia Education) Retrieved from Logophilia Education: www.logophilia.in

Understand “Cupidity” Through Etymology

The Etymology of “Cupidity”

The word “cupidity” comes from the Latin parts “cupid” (to boil) & “ity” (phenomenon of). Here “boiling” means to crave for something. Hence, “cupidity” is a lusting after or craving for material possession and acquisition, much like “avarice”.

Cognates: Other derivatives from “cupid” include “Cupid“, “cupidous”, “cupidinous”, etc.

Understand “Revenue” through Etymology

The Etymology of “Revenue”

The word “revenue” comes from the Latin parts “re” (back) & “ven” (to come). “Revenue” is that (part of our investment) which comes back to us.

Cognates: Other derivatives from “ven” include convent, adventure, invent, circumvent, etc.

The Etymology of Revenue