Gemini 26: Winter frost in the woods

The word winter is a derivative of the Indo European (IE) root wed- 1 which means water, wet.1 Its paronyms include wet, wash, winter, h y d r a n t , h y d r o u s , w h i s k e y , v o dk a , a n d h y d r o p s y (edema; an a b n or m a l a c c u m u l a t i on of fluid b e n e a t h t h e s ki n o r i n o n e o r m o r e c a v i t i e s of t h e b o d y ), u n d u l a t e , r e d o u n d , r e bo u n d , a bo u n d , s u r r o u n d , a n d r e du n da n t . T h e n a me s o f t w o a q u a t i c m a m m a l s a l s o d e s c e n d f r o m t h i s r o o t o t t e r a n d n u t r ia . T h e w o r d f r o s t de s c e n d s f r o m t he I E r o o t p r eu s - w hi c h m e a n s t o f r e e z e , b u r n . 2 A m o n g i t s p a r o n y m s a re f r e e z e , f r o r e ( v e r y c o l d ) , p r u i n o se (having a white powdery covering or bloom) , prurigo ( c h r on i c i n f l a m m a t o r y d i s e a s e o f t h e s k i n c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y b l i st e r c a p p e d p a p u l e s a n d i n t e n se i t c h i n g ) , p r u r i t u s ( a n i t c h i n g s e n sa t i on ) , a n d p r u r i e n t ( c h a r a c t e r i ze d b y lu s t ) . T h e w o r d w o o d h a s t w o d i s t i n c t m e a n i n g s. T h e fi r s t a n d m o s t common definition refers to the hard, fibrous material under the bark of a t r e e . T he s e co n d d e f i n i t i o n i s a r c ha i c a n d m e a n s m e n t a l l y u n b a l a n c e d o r i n s a n e . 3 B o t h of t h e s e d e f i n i t i o n s h a v e d i f fe r e n t e t y m o l o g i e s. T he f o r m e r d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e I E r o o t w id h u - w h i c h m e a n s t r e e , w o o d a n d i t h a s n o p a r o n y ms . 4 T h e s e c o n d d e f i n i t i o n d e s ce n d s f ro m t h e I E r o ot wet-1 which means to blow, inspire, spiritually arouse. 5 Its derivatives i n c l u d e W e dn e s da y , W o d e n , O d i n , W o t a n , v a t i c ( o f o r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f a p r o p h e t ; o r a c u l a r ) , w e d e l n ( a s n o w s k i i n g s t y l e ) , a t m o s p he r e , va n (a wing), and fan.

1 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European 2 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European 3 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/wood_2 4 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European 5 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Starling Hunter 2011 1

Roots, p. 95 Roots, p. 69 Roots, p. 101 Roots, p. 101

THEMES:

T he f i r st t h e me c on c e r n s S P I R I T . A m on g t he p a r o n y m s of

w i n t e r a r e t w o ki n d s o f a l c o h o l i c b e v e r a g e s o r s p i r i t s v o d k a a n d w h i s k e y . R e c a l l a ls o t h a t t he p a r o n ym s o f t he s e c o n d de f i n i t i on o f w o o d i n c l u d e t h r e e g o ds O d i n ( t h e N o r se g o d o f w i s d o m , w a r , a r t , c u l t u re , a n d t h e d e a d a n d t h e s u p re m e d e i t y a n d c r e a t o r o f t h e c o s m o s a n d h u m a n s ) , a n d W o t a n ( a Ge r m a n g o d i d e n t i fi e d w i t h O d i n ), a n d W o de n ( a n A n g l o - S a x o n g o d i d e n t i f i e d w i t h O d i n ) . A l s o a m o n g t he d e r i v a t i v e s o f t h i s r o o t i s t he w o r d v a t i c w h i c h i s r e l a t e d t o p r op he t s a n d o r a c l e s. F i n a l l y , re c a l l t h a t t h e se c o n d s e n se of w o od d e s ce n d s f ro m w et - 1 w h i ch m e a n s t o b l o w , i n s p i r e , o r sp i r i t u a l ly a r o u s e . A s e c o n d t h e m e c on c e r n s W AT E R . Re c a l l t h a t t he p a r o n y m s o f w i n t e r i n c l u d e s w a s h ( t o c l e a n se u s i n g w a t e r ) a n d w e t ( c o v e r e d o r s o a k e d w i t h l i q u i d s u c h a s w a t e r ; r a i n y o r s n o w y w e a t h e r ). I t s p a r on y m s a l s o i n c l u de w h i s k e y a n d v o d k a , t w o k i n d s o f fi r e w a t e r s t r o n g li q u o r , e sp e ci a l l y w h i s k e y . 6 A l s o , r e c a l l t h a t w i nt er de s c e n d s f r o m a r o o t t h a t m e a n s w a t e r, w e t . T h e k e y w o r d f r ost m e a n s a d e p o s i t o f mi n u t e i c e c r y s t a l s f o r m e d w h e n w a t e r v a p o r c on d e n se s a t a t e mp e r a t u r e b e l o w f r e e z i n g . Also among the paronyms of the second sense of wood is wedeln, a style o f s n o w s k i i n g . Th u s , t he r e a r e t h re e k i n d s o r p h a se s o f w a t e r ( 1 ) c o l d f rost , i c e , a n d s n o w ( 2 ) rai nwa t e r o r t a p wat er a n d ( 3 ) h o t o r

f i re wa t e r .
F i n a l l y , w e mi g h t n o t e t h a t t h e f r o st d e s c e n d s f r o m a ro o t t h a t m e a n s t o b ot h f r e e ze a n d b u r n . T h e i d e a o f b u r n i n g i s o n e f r e q ue n t l y a s s o c i a t e d with spirituality. Among its definitions are the notions of giving off or e m i t t i n g li g h t , s h i n i n g , a n d b e i n g co n s u m e d w i t h s t ro n g e m o t i o n o r p a s si o n . T hi s me a n i n g a l s o t i e s i n w i t h t w o o f t he k i n d s o f w a t e r d e s c r i b e d a b o v e ( 1 ) f r o s t , i c e , a n d s n o w a n d ( 2 ) f i r e w a t e r , t h e s t r on g l i q u o r s o r sp i r i t s.

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/firewate r Starling Hunter 2011 2