Transcript Etymology List 4

Vocabulary List 4
decimate (DES uh mate)
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verb
to kill or destroy a large part of
Synonyms: destroy, slaughter, ravage
(RAV ij)
decimated
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in reference to the practice of
punishing mutinous military units by
capital execution of one in every 10, by
lot; killing one in ten, chosen by lots,
from a rebellious city or a mutinous
army was a common punishment in
classical times.
Idiosyncrasies (id ee uh SING kruh
see)
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adjective
personal peculiarity
Synonyms: oddity, mannerism,
eccentricity (ek sen TRIS us tee)
idiosyncrasies
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Idio (peculiar) + syn (together) + crasis
(mixture) From the Greek. Idiotes
(where we get the modern idiot) were
those who did not hold public office.
When Rome came in they assumed
the reason one did not hold office was
because he lacked intelligence, hence
idiot being used in the negative.
odyssey (OD uh see)
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noun
long adventurous journey
Synonyms: wandering,roaming,
peregrination (per uh gruh NAY shun)
odyssey
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Odyssey, name of the Homeric epic
poem of ancient Greece, relating the
10-year wanderings of Odysseus, king
of Ithaca, after the Trojan War.
Figurative sense of "long, adventurous
journey" is first recorded 1889.
quintessence (kwin TES uns)
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noun
most essential part or quality; perfect
example
Synonyms: essence, model, paragon
(PAR uh gon)
quintessence
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early 15c., in ancient and medieval
philosophy, "pure essence, substance
of which the heavenly bodies are
composed," lit. "fifth essence,"
quinta "fifth" + essentia : the element
thought to permeate all things
narcissism (NAR suh siz um)
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noun
extreme self- love or self-admiration
Synonyms: self-centeredness, conceit,
egoism (EE go is um)
narcissism
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Narkissos, beautiful youth in
mythology (Ovid, "Metamorphoses,"
iii.370) who fell in love with his own
reflection in a spring and was turned to
the flower narcissus.
Root Words
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Con- together; with
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Congregate, contact
Loqu- to speak
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Eloquent, loquacious
Sequ- to follow
Consequence,
sequence
Clud – to shut or
close
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Include, exclude,
conclude
Noc – to harm

Innocent, nocuous