Panacea

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Panacea

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sat May 24, 2014 10:23 pm

• panacea •

Pronunciation: pæ-nê-see-yê • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: A remedy for everything, for all problems or difficulties; a cure-all, a catholicon.

Notes: Pandora, whose name means "all gifts", was the first mortal woman according to one version of Greek mythology. Zeus gave her the gift of a box that, when opened, allowed all the ills of humanity to escape. Since Pandora's Box created the immediate need for a panacea, it should surprise no one that today's Good Word comes from Greece (see Word History). The English adjective from today's word is panacean, as a panacean remedy or a panacean approach.

In Play: Since the times of the ancient Greeks, we have come to know much more about illnesses, enough to know that there is no single cure for all of them. However, outside medicine the idea persists. Many think a tax cut will be a panacea for all economic problems. Others have thought nuclear bombs a panacea for all international conflict. We also meet household panaceas from time to time: "Buffy, a tattoo and a nose ring are not a panacea for your dating problems."

Word History: This Good Word is the undisguised Latin noun, panacea. It referred to a herb the Romans believed could cure all diseases. The Romans traced their copy from Greek panakeia "universal cure" from pan "all" + akos "cure". Greek pan appears in Pandora, as already mentioned, and in Pandemonium, the all-demon city in Milton's Paradise Lost. It is productively used to create adjectives like pan-Arab, pan-African, pan-American, a clipping of which, Panam, underlies the name Panama. (We hope nothing cures Katy Brezger's knack for finding interesting words like this for us.)
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LukeJavan8
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Re: Panacea

Postby LukeJavan8 » Sun May 25, 2014 11:56 am

I don't quite understand the clipping which
underlies the name Panama. Help?
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

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Slava
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Re: Panacea

Postby Slava » Mon May 26, 2014 8:01 am

I don't quite understand the clipping which
underlies the name Panama. Help?
Hate to say it, but I think the Doc is off on this one. No other references I've looked at suggest this. Here's the relevant bit from the Wikipedia entry on Panama:
There are several theories about the origin of the name "Panama". Some believe that the country was named after a commonly found species of trees. Others believe that the first settlers arrived in Panama in August, when butterflies abound, and that the name means "many butterflies" in an indigenous language.

The best-known version is that a fishing village and its nearby beach bore the name "Panamá", which meant "an abundance of fish". Captain Antonio Tello de Guzmán, while exploring the Pacific side in 1515, stopped in the small indigenous fishing town. This was communicated to the Crown and in 1517 Don Gaspar De Espinosa, a Spanish lieutenant, decided to settle a post there. In 1519, Pedrarias Dávila decided to establish the Empire's Pacific city in this site. The new settlement replaced Santa María La Antigua del Darién, which had lost its function within the Crown's global plan after the beginning of the Spanish exploitation of the riches in the Pacific.

Blending all of the above together, Panamanians believe in general that the word Panama means "abundance of fish, trees and butterflies". This is the official definition given in social studies textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education in Panama. However, others believe the word Panama comes from the Kuna word "bannaba" which means "distant" or "far away".
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

LukeJavan8
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Re: Panacea

Postby LukeJavan8 » Mon May 26, 2014 11:24 am

Very interesting, thanks for taking the time to look it up.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----


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