To fit together

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.