Advent

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7417
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Advent

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sat Dec 20, 2014 10:57 pm

• advent •

Pronunciation: æd-vent • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. In the Christian tradition, the month before Christmas, beginning the fourth Sunday before the Nativity (Advent Sunday) and observed with prayer and fasting by some, burning Advent candles by others. 2. The first or second coming of Christ. 3. The coming or beginning of something important, as the advent of air travel.

Notes: Advent has but one relative: an Adventist is someone who believes the second coming of Christ is close at hand. This noun could be used as an adjective easily enough, though, as 'an Adventist view of the world'.

In Play: The advent of the Internet has made holiday shopping all the easier; you can even send holiday e-cards. So the holiday season is undergoing yet another change, as we are no longer forced to the malls after Thanksgiving. But here at the advent of the holiday season, we might pause to remember the humility and selflessness of the person whose Advent Christians are celebrating.

Word History: This good word obviously came to us from Latin, from adventus "arrival", the part participle of advenire "to come to, to arrive", via the usual French route. The Latin word is made up of ad- "to, toward" + venire "to come." The root of the Latin verb goes back to a time when the Proto-Indo-European people didn't seem to know whether they were coming or going, for the root that gave us venire, gwe(-m)-, became both come and go in English. The [w] that gave Latin the [v] in venire disappeared in English and the [g] became a similar sound, [k]. That gave us come. About the same time the [we] became [o] (notice your lips pucker to pronounce both these sounds) in a variant of the same verb without the suffix [m], hence go.
• 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: Advent

Postby LukeJavan8 » Sun Dec 21, 2014 1:57 pm

I was at a meeting last week where a young man said
he belonged to a Church that celebrates Christmas
for 2-3 weeks after Christmas is over. Shows what
our Black Friday shopping frenzy world has done to
Advent and the 12 Days of Christmas. He had no
concept of either when I tried to explain them and
thought them foolish.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

Perry Lassiter
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 3333
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: RUSTON, LA
Contact:

Re: Advent

Postby Perry Lassiter » Sun Dec 21, 2014 3:11 pm

I note that panegyrics are appropriate for the December anniversary of the advent of this Agora!
pl


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 53 guests