ENIGMA

[Dr. Goodword]

• enigma •

Pronunciation: ê-nig-mê • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A very difficult riddle. 2. An unsolvable mystery.

Notes: Today's Good Word comes from a rich if mysterious family, including an adjective enigmatic with its adverb, enigmatically, and a verb, to enigmatize "to make mysterious or puzzling". Someone who loves to make up riddles or obfuscates issues for a reason, is an enigmatist. If you would like to enigmatize your conversations a bit, use the old Greek plural, enigmata, rather than the simpler and more modern enigmas.

In Play: One of the most famous uses of this Good Word was Winston Churchill's declaration in 1939 that Russia ". . . is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." Later, during World War II the German Navy developed a code machine known as the Enigma Machine. A copy was passed to the British by sympathetic Polish engineers and became the key to success of the Allies in their struggle against German U-boat attacks. Now you can enjoy our version of this machine when you spin the alphaDictionary Wheel of Fortunate Words.

Word History: Today's word is borrowed from the borrowed Latin word aenigma. Latin took this word from Greek ainigma "riddle, mysterious comment", the noun of ainissesthai "to speak in riddles". derived from ainos "fable, tale, praise". Although we don't know where this word came from, we do know that it also underlies the name of Aeneas (Greek Aineias), the hero of The Aeneid and son of Anchises and the goddess of love, Aphrodite. (Today let's thank Susan Lister, who becomes less and less of an enigma as she suggests more and of her favorite words—words like this one—to us.)[/i]

[skinem]

There are no mysteries when the good doctor goes after a word!
Good game at the link, too.

[gailr]

I didn't know about the relationship to The Aeneid; thanks for the GoodWord History.

Enigmas were most fascinating to the alter ego of Sir Arthur Conundrum Doyle. On a more contemporary note, Enigma has also generated some very interesting music.

-gailr

[tcward]

I can't hear or read the word 'enigma' without thinking of Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations...

The story is told of how Elgar, returning home from giving violin lessons, sat down at the piano and, to unwind, began improvising. Alice commented favourably on the tune that emerged and Elgar responded by suggesting how certain of their friends might play it. Out of that spontaneous exchange grew the idea of the Enigma Variations, the work that finally secured Elgar's reputation as a composer of national, even international, standing. It remains one of the most popular works in the classical repertoire.

-Tim

[Bailey]

HEY, Tim is back! Are there any midis for these enigmas?

mark needs-help-to-remember-the-tunes Bailey

[tcward]

Here ya go... Single midi file 104kb.

And the Wikipedia article where I found it is a gem, too.

-Tim

[Bailey]

Thank you, Tim.