Monday, July 16, 2007

On Killing

...

You may be arrested these days if you attempt suicide.

But you 'will' be arrested if you commit homicide.

But by using Piff-Paff, Raid, or Mortein many people regularly commit pesticide. Luckily there is no law against that. In fact, farmers in many countries are supplied with pesticides so that they can use them to kill those insects (or pests) in their farms.

And we all know that the toothpaste contains germicide, to kill the germs.

So, Now, I'm sure you now know what I am getting at. The major root for all these words is 'cide'. Which means 'to kill'

Sui - self (So, to kill one's self is Suicide)
Homos - a person ( So, to kill a person is Homicide)
Pest - insect (So, to kill an insect is 'pesticide'. Pesticide is also the stuff used to kill pests)
Germ - germ (So, to kill germs is 'germicide'. and Germicide is also the stuff used to kill them)

Now, using cide as a suffix, at the end of the word, you can easily guess what killing the following persons would mean.



Patris - Father

Matron - Mother

Frater- Brother

Soror - Sister

Uxor- Wife

Maritus - Husband

Reg/Rex - King/Royalty

Infant - a baby

genos - a race

(Answers below this passage)

...

Fathers, Mothers and Money

Patron, paternal, paternity, patriarch, patronize, Padre are all related to the root word pater or patris which means father.

Similarly, matron, maternal, maternity, matriarch are derivatives from the root word mater or matris which meant mother.

Please note that Patrimony ( money inherited from the father) is also a combination of patris and money ('money' comes from Roman goddess Juno Moneta who is believed to guard the Temples of Finance).

Alimony (alimo means 'for nourishment' or 'for sustenance'), therefore, means money given for nourishment or sustenance. Usually given to a divorced wife by the former husband until she can nourish or sustain herself.

Matrimony which means marriage, however, has no relation to money but has the meaning of getting a mother to run a family.


An extra bit
..
Parsimony - which means 'stinginess' or 'extreme frugality' or 'miserly' - comes from parsimonia - to spare, and mony of course, from the Roman goddess Moneta.
So, if someone calls you a parsimonious person, he is not complimenting you, but calling you a miser, because you are too careful in spending money.

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Answers:

Patris - Father - Patricide
Matron - Mother - Matricide
Frater- Brother - Fratricide
Soror - Sister - Sororicide
Uxor- Wife - Uxoricide
Maritus - Husband - mariticide
Reg/Rex - King/Royalty - Regicide
Infant - Baby - Infanticide
genos - Race - Genocide


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