Piacular

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7419
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Piacular

Postby Dr. Goodword » Fri Apr 04, 2014 10:29 pm

• piacular •[/piacular]
Pronunciation: pai-æk-kyê-lêr • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: 1. Making up for, making atonement, expiatory, expiating some wrong-doing. 2. Wicked, bad, requiring atonement or expiation.

Notes: To use this Good Word, we have to remember that it begins with two syllables, and that the first sounds like pie. The adverb is formed quite simply by adding the usual suffix, piacularly, and the noun by adding -ity: piacularity. This word is closely related semantically to the Good Word expiate for reasons that will emerge in the Word History.

In Play: Today's word is used less often to refer to an act that requires atonement, but that meaning is still available: "Morris, picking me up late is so piacular you will have to take me out to dinner to make up for it." This makes taking his girlfriend out a piacular act in the first sense above: "I hope dinner at McDonald's is piacular enough for such a light slight."

Word History: Today's Good Word comes from Latin piacularis "atoning, expiatory", from piaculum "sacrifice". Both these words were derived from the verb piare "to appease". Piare is based on the adjective pius "dutiful, devout", which we discussed in connection with expiate. The noun from pius, Latin pietas "compassion, piety", came to be p&iacure;t´ in Old French, whence English borrowed it as pity. The same Latin noun became pietà "compassion" in Italian, the name of Michaelangelo's famous statue of Mary holding the body of Jesus. (Mark Angney of Concord-Carlisle High School in Concord, Massachusetts, need not feel any piacularity for finding and submitting such a superb Good Word for us today.)

• The Good Dr. Goodword

LukeJavan8
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 4423
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
Location: Land of the Flat Water

Re: Piacular

Postby LukeJavan8 » Sat Apr 05, 2014 12:00 pm

New one to me. Thanks.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8040
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: Piacular

Postby Slava » Sat Apr 05, 2014 1:22 pm

I want to know how it came about that if you do something piacular you should do something piacular.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Semrush [Bot] and 38 guests