Today's word comes by way of a friend who discovered it while reading a magazine article about the problems with The Federal Reserve. He thought the word was too grand not to be in circulation among the general population...so I'm doing my part to promote the use of the word: CUPIDITY.
If you're like me, the only association you have with anything like CUPIDITY is the cherubic Valentine's Day icon. What could he possibly have to do with The Federal Reserve? (well, other than regularly piercing people through the heart?)
Here's the deal. According to Miriam-Webster Dictionary, both Cupid and CUPIDITY are derivations of...you guessed it...the same Latin root:
From its verb "cupere" ("to desire") Latin derived three nouns which have passed with minimal modification into English.
"Cupiditas" meant "yearning" and "desire"; English borrowed this as "cupidity," which originally in the 15th century was synonymous with "lust." (The "greed" meaning of "cupidity" developed very soon after this other now-archaic meaning.)
Latin "cupido" started out as a near synonym of "cupiditas," but it came to stand for the personification of specifically carnal desire, the counterpart of Greek "eros"; this is the source of our familiar (and rather domesticated) Cupid.
A strengthened form of "cupere" -- "concupiscere," meaning "to desire ardently" -- yielded the noun "concupiscentia" in the Late Latin of the Christian church. "Concupiscentia" came specially to denote sexual desire, a meaning reflected in the English version "concupiscence," meaning "sexual desire."
So...what do Cupid and The Federal Reserve have in common? Desire. While Cupid strikes the hearts of his victims with romantic desire, TFR is stricken with monetary desire...otherwise known as GREED. I think they might be on to something there. Ya think?
I challenge you to use the word one time this week...and not in relation to The Fed. Find your own original context, then let me know how you used it!
No comments:
Post a Comment