Roots
Intriguing words
Deepti

Self-help books often contain a chapter on ‘Words frequently confused’ at the end of the book. Here are some words that cannot be confused, for the simple reason that most English users may not have heard of them. They exist and are a part of the lexicon, so go ahead and circulate them.

The word ‘indehiscent’ is used to describe a peapod or similar fruit that does not burst open at maturity. The origin of the word lies in the Latin ‘dehiscere’ meaning ‘to split open’ and ‘hiare’ meaning ‘to yawn’. When a pod opens at last, it looks as if it is yawning, doesn’t it? If all this talk of peas and pods makes you yawn, you can politely call it ‘somnific’, a word that means ‘causing sleep’. This word comes from the Latin ‘somnificus’ that is composed of ‘somnus’ (sleep) and ‘facere’ (to make). This root is also the source of insomnia, hypnosis and soporific.

Sometimes, a word may look familiar but its strange affix makes one think hard. ‘Theophany’ is one such word that can rapidly become a part of Indian English because it touches upon a much-valued aspect of religion in India. ‘Theophany’ refers to the appearance of a god to a person. This word comes from the Latin ‘theophania’ that was borrowed from the Greek word ‘theophaneia’ that is made up of ‘theo’ (god) and ‘phaneia’ (to show).

In a similar manner, the practice of collecting autographs is termed ‘philography’, originating in the combination of two Greek words, ‘philo’ meaning ‘loving’ and ‘graphy’ meaning ‘writing’. The simple habit of nail-biting has created the tough-looking word ‘onychophagia’ that is made up of the Greek ‘onyx’ meaning ‘nail’ and ‘phagia’ meaning ‘eating’. Another interesting base-affix combination is the word ‘garbology’ that refers to the study of a society or culture through the examination of what it discards. This word is a blend of garbage (originally, the term applied to the offal of fowls) and ‘logy’ or ‘study’. When you are a shopping-addict, you can say that you are a patient of ‘oniomania’ (onos or price + mania or craze).