To fit together
This week, we celebrate the tiny Proto-Indo-European word, *ar-. a word that meant to fit together.
Its progeny are legion.
*ar- gave us words that acknowledge the fitting together necessary for military action:
armada
armament
armor
armory
army
gendarme
ordnance
& the fitting together it takes to cease military action:
armistice
disarm
*ar- gave us words that acknowledge the fitting together that is art:
art
artifact
artist
artisan
It gave us the names of critters that fit together:
arthropod
armadillo
And words that recognize other ways things might fit together:
armoire
aristocracy
arthritis
articulate
artifact
coordination
harmony
ornament
ornate
subordinate
order
Even words that suggest fitting together is simply the way of things:
ordinary
inert
inertia
And a word that may just be where all this fitting together started:
primordial
Did any of these fitting together words surprise you? If so, please say so in the comments section.
My thanks go out to this week’s sources: the Merriam Webster, OED, Collins Dictionary, Oxford Dictionary, & Etymonline.
Whoda thunk that gendarmes were related to armadillos? Now I'm picturing an armadillo wearing one of those Paris gendarme hats...
ReplyDeleteAnd to think -- armadillos, gendarmes, & arthritis are all just elements of the primordial harmony! Thanks for coming by.
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