8/3/2019 Libra 7: A woman feeding chickens and protecting them from the hawks

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Libra 7: A woman feeding chickens and protecting them from

the hawks

The word feed descends from

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

w h i c h m eans “ t o pr o t ec t , f eed . ” 1 

I ts paronyms include fodder ,

forage, foray, fur , pablum, feed,

food, foster , pasture, antipasto,

repast , pastern, pastor , pester ,

 panada, pa ntry , companion,

company, bezoar  , a nd sat r ap  .

The word chicken d e s c e nd s

from the Old Engl ish c i cen   

meaning “young fowl .” The word

i t s e l f h a s s e v e r a l d e f i n i t i o ns i nc l u d i ng ( 1 ) t h e c o m m o n d o m e s t i c f o w l , i t s

young, or i ts f lesh as food (2) a s lang word for coward and (3) a game in

which the part ic ipants persist in a dangerous course of act ion unti l one

l o s e s ne r v e a nd s t o p s . 2 

The word protect ion i s a derivat ive of the IE root   (s)teg-2 which

m eans “ t o c o v er . ” 3 I ts paronyms include the words deck, detect ,

stegosaur , protect , tectr ix , thatch, thug, t i le , a nd toga .

Th e w o r d hawk d e s c e nd s f r o m t h e I E r o o t   kap- , “ t o g r as p . ” 4 I t s

p a r o ny m s i nc l u d e heddle  ( o ne o f t h e s e t s o f p a r a l l e l d o u bl e d t h r e a d s i n a

l o o m ) , heavy , h av en  , hawk  (bird of prey) ,  gaff    (a large iron hook 

a t t a c h e d t o a p o l e ) , heft  , cab l e  , cait i f f    ( a d e s p i c a bl e c o w a r d ; a w r e t c h ) ,capias  (a warrant for arrest) , capture , cat ch  , cat er  , chase  (to pursue) ,

cop  (to take unlawful ly or without permission) , copper  (a pol ice of f icer) ,

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 1

2 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / c h i c k e n

3 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 . 8 5

4 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 . 3 7

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accep t  , anticipate , conceive , decei v e  , have , receive, inception, occupy,

  participate, perceive, recipe, recover , hoof , behoove, copepod  (minute

m a r i ne a nd f r e s h w a t e r c r u s t a c e a ns ) , a nd t h e c o m p o u nd b eh av e .

THEMES: Recal l that  pa- , t h e r o o t o f   feeding , m eans “ t o pr o t ec t , f eed ”

while steg-2 , the root of   protect , means “to cover .” The words “cover”

a nd protect are synonyms. 5 One def ini t ion of the former is “ t o p l a c e

something upon or over , so as to protect or conceal . ” 6 N o t a bl y , t h e m o t t o

o f m any po l i c e f o r c es i n t h e Uni t ed S t at es i s “ t o pr o t ec t and s er v e . ” 7 

Po l i c e ar e r e f er r ed t o as “c o ps ” , a par o ny m o f   hawk , a nd t h e i r ba d g e s a r e

also known as “shields” , a term which can mean “a protect ive device or

s t r u c t u r e . ”8 

A s e c o nd t h e m e c o nc e r ns COWARDICE , a qu a l i t y a nt i t h e ti c a l t o t h e

PHYSICAL COURAGE embodied by and expected of cops and other

protectors . Recal l that one of the paronyms of   hawk i s cait i f f    which

m e a ns “a despicable coward; a wretch.” 9 A nd a s a l s o no t e d a bo v e , t h e

word chicken i s a l s o s l a ng f o r c o w a r d .10 Fi na l l y , t h e c o w a r d i c e o f t h e

chicken contrasts starkly with the “act ively aggressive and combative

at t i t u d e” associated with the hawk . 11 

A third theme concerns FOOD . The words i tsel f i s a paronym of  

feeding . Def ini t ions of the word chicken refer not only to the bird i tsel f  

but to i ts “ f lesh” which is a major source of   f ood . This bird is a lso the

m o s t a bu nd a nt s u p p l i e r o f e g g s a s food . A l s o , t h e p a r o ny m s o f   feeding  

include several others related to food — fodder , forage, pablum, feed,

 pasture, antipas to, panada, a nd pantry .

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

6 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / c o v e r

7 h t t p : / / m e d i a . g i a n t b o m b . c o m / u p l o a d s / 2 / 2 3 2 86 / 1 8 1 3 1 3 3 - p r o t e c t _ a n d _ s e r v e _ s u p e r . j p g

8 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / s h i e l d

9 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / c a i t i f f  

10 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / c h i c k e n

11 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / h a w k