Words of Interesting Origin

Words of Confusion

Parameter vs. Perimeter

Parameter - a rule or limit that controls what something is or how it can be done vs.

Perimeter – the boundary around a geometric figure

• Parameter = plural and with prepositions like within, beyond, on.

  • Ex. ”As long as you get the job done within the parameters of the position, I’ll be happy.”

• Perimeter = concrete objects:

  • Ex. “Go check the perimeter of the house to make sure it’s safe.” or “Calculate the perimeter of the rectangle considering the width is 5 inches and the length is 7.”

Stanza vs. Verse

{sta} > stanza vs. verse < {vert} (Latin)

• stanza = the formally defined unit of a poetic work

• verse = formally, a single line in a poetic work

Hypochondriac

{hypo}+{chondr}{ia}

• hypochondria = over-concerned about health

• illness comes from under your chondria (hypo)

Latin Phrases ***

terra firma

= firm land

• today=same but usually

rara aris ***

taw.

sui generis

of one’s own kind ;

today= unique, only

vade mecum

= Come with me

today = a guidebook

Anno Domini A.D ***

The Vocab of Psychology

{Psych(o)} + {log} + {y}

Gk. ψυχή = soul, inner-self

• originally meant breath < ψύχω to blow

Derivatives from ψυχή

• psychiatry {psych(o)} + {iatr(o)} (=“doctor”) + {y}

• ex: psychosis, psychotic

The suffix {-osis} is related to {-sis}, each of which can form nouns of action or condition.

• {-osis} = used in medical terms that denote a condition of disease, disorder, excess, or infection.

• Cf. neurosis, neurotic ({neur(o)} = nerve (Note: Neurosis is no longer used as a diagnostic category in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

• sclerosis, sclerotic ({scler(o)} = hardening)

• necrosis, necrotic ({necr(o)} = corpse)

Psychic

Psychosomatic ({somat/soma/some} = body)

Metempsychosis ({meta/met} + {em} + {psych(o)} + {osis}

Latin Soul-Terminology

Latin has two words/concepts that correlate to the soul: animus and anima

• animus = the thinking part, the brain?

• anima = the being alive, feeling part, the heart?

  • From anima, we find words like animate and animal

Hysteria

• ὑστέρα = womb => {hyster}

• This leads to the concept of the “wandering womb” (still found in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders until 1980)

Interesting terms from Psychology

• schizophrenia

  • {schiz(o)} = split

  • {phren} = mind, diaphragm

  • Cf.

    • schizoid =

    • schism =

    • phrenoplegia =

    • phrenology (used to be called cranioscopy) = the study of the mind

• Delirium

  • {de-} = away from

  • {lira} = furrow

  • {-ium} = noun suffix

• Dementia

  • {de-}

  • {ment} = mind

  • {-ia}

• Deviant

  • {de-}

  • {via} = path, road, journey

  • {-nt} = adjective ending

• {press} = press, push down

  • depression ({de} = down)

  • repression

  • suppression ({sub/sup} = under)

• {sess} = sit

  • session = a sitting

  • obsession = a sitting against, a siege ({ob} = against)

The Pseudoscience of Phrenology

• Believed that you could explain or predict mental traits and character based on the shape of the skull; influential esp. in 18th-19th centuries

Other Uses of Greek/Latin in Psychology

• Freudian psychology has been an influential – although now relatively discredited – method of analyzing the mind.

• Freud was trained in the texts of ancient Greece and Rome, “the classics,” as were many of his day.

• Perhaps his most famous theory the Oedipus complex

Oedipus Complex

• Mythic Background:

  • Laius + Jocasta, ruler of Thebes

  • Goes to oracle —> Their child will murder his father.

  • Oedipus was teased because of his “swollen feet”, so he went to an oracle for insight.

  • There, he was told he would kill his father and marry his mother so he left home to avoid his fate.

  • Gets into a traffic jam outside Thebes and kills an old man in a fit of road rage

  • But how lucky: Thebes was being bothered by a sphinx asking people riddles - which

    Oedipus solves.

  • “What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?”

  • Oedipus becomes king of Thebes and marries the widow Jocasta...fulfilling the prophecy.

  • This brings Freud to the “Oedipus Complex”

    • Thesis 1) a male child’s mother is the original focus of his erotic desire.

    • Thesis 2) The child’s father becomes a hated and feared rival for his mother’s attention.

  • Conclusion: Proper mental health requires a child to resolve this conflict by identifying with and internalizing the father’s inhibitions on the child’s erotic urges.

Theory of the Ego, Id, and Superego

• The id = source of raw erotic desire in a human.

  • etymologically, it means “it” in Latin.

• Ego = sense of self that a person has.

  • etymologically, it means “I” in Latin.

• The superego (= “over-I”) refers to the inhibitions that arise from internalizing the inhibitions represented by the father.

• Good mental health = good order among the id, ego, and superego

The Electra Complex

• As we’ve seen, Freud’s psychology is very male-centric.

• Offers a female-centric theory in the “Electra Complex”

• Mythic background:

  • Electra was the daughter of the Greek general Agamemnon;

  • Agamemnon was killed by his wife Clytemnestra; in revenge, Electra killed her mother.

  • According to the Electra Complex, daughters feel competition with their mothers for their fathers’ attention.

Narcissism

Narcissism = the state of being like Narcissus.

• Narcissus was a handsome man who rejected his admirers.

• In response, he was cursed to fall in love with his own reflection, eventually dying there and becoming a flower.