aquarius 25: a butterfly with the right wing more perfectly formed

8/3/2019 Aquarius 25: A butterfly with the right wing more perfectly formed

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Aquarius 25: A butterfly with t he right wing more perfectly

formed

The word butter descends from

t h e I nd o -E u r o p e a n ( I E ) r o o t teue-

2 , “to swel l . ” Paronyms include

t h i g h , t h u m b, t h o l e ( a wooden peg

set in pairs in the gunwales of a

boat to serve as an oarlock ) ,

t y l o s i s ( inf lammation of the

e y e l i d s ) , tumescent , tumid, tumor ,

t r u f f l e , t u be r , t y r o s i ne , o bt u r a t e

( t o c l o s e , o bs t r u c t ), qu a r k ( a soft creamy acid-cured cheese of central

Europe made from whole milk) , soma ( t h e bo d y o f a n i nd i v i d u a l a s

o p p o s e d t o t h e m i nd o r p s y c h e ) , creosote , a nd l iniment .

The word f ly descends from the IE root pleu which means “to f low.” 1

Paronyms include plover (a wading bird) , Pluto , f low, f lue , f lood,

f ledgl ing , f ley , f letcher , f l ight , fowl , f leet , f loat , f lotsam, f lot i l la , f lutter ,

f l i t , a nd f l u s t e r .

The word right descends from the IE root reg- which means “to move

i n a s t r a i g h t l i ne .” 2 Many of i ts paronyms connote direct ing , leading ,

rul ing , and authori ty f igures , e .g . raj , (maha)rajah , rector , regent , realm,

viceroy , a s w e l l a s t h e a d j u nc t s a nd i ns t r u m e nt s o f t h e i r p o w e r , e . g .

a d d r e s s , a r r o g a t e , c o r r e c t i o n , d i r e c t i ve , i nt e r r o g a ti o n , p r e r o g a t i v e , r a nk ,

regime, region, reign, regulat ion, an d r u l e .

The word wing descends from the IE root we- which means “to b low.”3

Other paronyms include ni r v a na , v e nt , v e nt i l a t e , w i nd , w e a t h e r , an d

w i nd o w .

1 W a t k i n s , C . ( 2 0 0 0 ) , T h e A m e r i c a n H e r i t a g e D i c t i o n a r y o f I n d o E u r o p e a n R o o t s , p . 6 8





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The word more descends from the IE root me-3 which m eans “b i g ” and

from which also descends the word m o s t .

The word perfect descends from the IE root dhe- w h i c h m eans “ t o s et ,

pu t . ”4 The AHDEL l ists over 150 derivat ives of this root . Among them are

a f f a i r , a f f e c t i o n , a m p l i f y , a r t i f a c t , be ne f i t , bo u t i qu e , bo d e g a , c o nd i m e nt ,

c o nf e t t i , d e e m , d e f e a t , d e f a c e , d i f f i c ul t , d e f e c t , d o , e f f e c t , e f f i c i e nc y ,

f a ç a d e , f a c e , f a c t , f a c t i o n , f a c t o r y , f e a t , f e a t u r e , f e t i s h , i n f e c t i o n ,

m o d i f i c a t io n , o f f i c e , p e r f e c t i o n , p r o f i t , qu a l i f i c a ti o n , s u f f i c i e nc y , s u r f a c e ,

t h e m e , and t h e s i s .

F i na l l y , t h e w o r d formed descends from the Greek root merph- which

m eans “ f o r m . ” 5 Pa r o ny m s i nc l u d e t h e p r e f i x m o r p h o - , the suf f ix – form ,

a nd t h e w o r d s morpheme, formation, format , formula , conform, inform,

platform, reform, transform , a nd uniform .

THEMES: Th e f i r s t t h e m e c o nc e r ns FLIGHT , as evidenced by the

s u bj e c t -a nd -a d j u nct r e l a t i o ns hi p b e t w e e n t h e ke y w o r d s wing a nd f ly .

S e c o nd l y , t h e r e a r e a f e w p o p u l a r t w o -w o r d p h r a s e s t h a t c a n be

constructed from the above. One of these is right wing , a term used in

the Western pol i t ical tradit ion to descr ibed individuals or groups

holding conservative posi t ions . 6 A no t h e r c o m m o n p h r a s e o r c o m p o u nd i s

s u r f a c e -a r e a formula , i .e . a mathematical formula used to compute “the

t o t a l a r e a o f a s u r f a c e o r s u r f a c e s , e s p e c i a l l y t h e o u t s i d e s u r f a c e s o f a n

object .” 7 A third commonly occurring word pair is m o r e p e r f e c t . Th e s e

two words are part of the phrase “towa rds a more perfect u ni o n” w h i c h

a p p e a r s i n t h e p r e a m bl e t o t h e Uni t e d S t a t e s C o ns t i t u t io n . 8

F i na l l y , r e c a l l t h a t t h e o ne o f t h e p a r o ny m s o f perfect i s o f f i c e r , “ one

who holds an off ice of authority or trust in an organization, su ch as acorporation or government.” Further recal l that several of the paronyms



6 h t t p : / / d i c t i o n a r y . r e f e r e n c e . c o m / b r o w s e / r i g h t + w i n g

7 h t t p : / / w w w . m a c m i l l a n d i c t i o n a r y . c o m / d i c t i o n a r y / a m e r i c a n / s u r f a c e - a r e a _ 1

h t t p : / / e n . w i k i p e d i a . o r g / w i k i / S u r f a c e _ a r e a # C o m m o n _ f o r m u l a s

8 h t t p : / / e n . w i k i p e d i a . o r g / w i k i / P r e a m b l e _ t o _ t h e _ U n i t e d _ S t a t e s _ C o n st i t u t i o n



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o f right c o nno t e AUTHORITY FIGURES , e . g . r u l e r , r a j a h , r e g e nt , a nd

r e c t o r . The words r u l e r a n d o f f i c e r are both synonyms of the word

commander , i .e . the leader of a mi l i tary or other organizat ion. 9

9 h t t p : / / t h e s a u r u s . c o m / b r o w s e / r u l e r

aquarius 25: a butterfly with the right wing more perfectly formed

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