The Word Within the Word • List #69

Latin stems are in standard style, Greek stems are in italics, new stems are also in boldface:

·  ad / (to) / attenuated / ·  pro / (before) / prolegomenon
·  ten / (thin) / attenuated / ·  legein / (to speak) / prolegomenon
·  extra / (beyond) / extraneous / ·  hedone / (delight) / hedonism
·  pro / (forward) / profound / ·  ism / (doctrine) / hedonism
·  fundus / (bottom) / profound / ·  pater / (father) / patrician
·  se / (apart) / sedulous / ·  mis / (bad) / miscreant
·  in / (in) / incunabula / ·  cred / (believe) / miscreant
·  per / (through) / parvenu / ·  terr / (land) / terra firma
·  ven / (come) / parvenu / ·  de / (from) / desuetude
·  phan / (to show) / sycophant / ·  ate / (cause) / reiterate
  1. attenuated (thinned) He stared at the feeble and attenuated limbs of the prisoners.
  2. * extraneous (from outside) Extraneous demands interfered with his concentration. *
  3. * profound (deep) The profundity of the sea resonated with Ahab’s profound obsession. *
  4. sedulous (diligent) With sedulous application, Malcolm X copied the entire dictionary.
  5. incunabula (infancy) To read Homer is to glimpse the incunabula of world literature.
  6. parvenu (an upstart) The parvenu’s new wealth did not buy him acceptance in the neighborhood.
  7. * sycophant (an obsequious parasite) Jane Eyre stubbornly refused to play the role of sycophant. *
  8. * adagio (a slow movement) The second movement, an adagio, brought him to tears. *
  9. desuetude (disuse) The laws were still on the books but had fallen into desuetude.
  10. prolegomenon (preliminary statement) She began the text with a brief prolegomenon.
  11. hedonism (devotion to pleasure) with hedonistic delight, the Hobbit snoozed after his meal.
  12. * narcissism (self-adoration) The award ceremony degenerated into effusive narcissism *
  13. * patrician (aristocratic) With patrician good will, Duncan approached Macbeth’s castle. *
  14. * miscreant (evil unbeliever) For obscure reasons, miscreants had desecrated the shrine. *
  15. * terra firma (firm land) “Thou shalt not kill” was the terra firma of her political credo. *