Chapter 3 + 4 - Word History

Chimerical WH

Chimera, a fire-breathing monster terrorizing the land, was defeated by the hero Bellerophon, who rode Pegasus and killed her with a lead-tipped spear that melted inside her body. Her name still lives on to describe something as wildly fantastic and unrealistic as herself.

Limbo WH

In Christian belief, this word referred to a borderland of hell where unbaptized infants and virtuous non-Christians went, a place without punishment but without heaven. Dante popularized this idea in “The Divine Comedy”, placing figures like Homer and Socrates there, and now the word is used more loosely to mean being stuck in an in-between state.

Plagiarize WH

The word traces back to ancient Rome, where people who stole others’ work or even kidnapped individuals were associated with raiders and criminals, and over time the term came to describe stealing someone else’s ideas or writing as one’s own.

Charlatan WH

From the Sicilian village of Cerreto, where deceptive performers become associated with fraud, to Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” the charlatan is portrayed as an imposter who exploits public trust.

Sycophant WH

In Dante’s “Divine Comedy”, the figure of the sycophant is linked to loathsome flatterers whose false praise and gestures symbolize moral corruption and self-serving loyalty.

Draconian WH

This word tells the story of the Athenian lawmaker Draco, whose famously severe legal code punished nearly al crimes with death, later softened by Solon but remembered as a symbol of extreme punishment.