A.Word.A.Day --agathism

A.Word.A.Day

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Dec 27, 2021

This week’s theme
There’s a word for it

This week’s words
agathism
yesternight
quaestuary
habitus
eschatology

Previous week’s theme
No el

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

The English language has hundreds of thousands of words. These words have work to do. They take their places in the dictionary, ready to serve, wherever and whenever you need them. Some are deployed often. Others only stand and wait.

This week we’ve summoned some of the words who have been patiently waiting for their turn in the dusty pages of the dictionary. Say hello to them. Put them to work. They are handy. They are happy to serve. They will do whatever you ask them to do, but please use them only for the good.

agathism

PRONUNCIATION:

(A-guh-thiz-uhm)

MEANING:

noun: The doctrine that, in the end, all things tend toward good.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek agathos (good), which also gave us agathokakological and the name Agatha. Earliest documented use: 1830.

NOTES:

An optimist would say that everything is for the best. An agathist, on the other hand, would say that what’s happening right now may be unfortunate or evil, but, ultimately, it will all end well. For optimists (and pessimists) from fiction who became words, see here and here. Also see pejorist.

USAGE:

“His stubbornness and agathism have been an inspiration to me. I don’t naturally have his persistence. So I often ask my mother to put him on the phone when I am struggling with something. It doesn’t matter what the issue is or that he can’t possibly know the future. I just want to hear his standard line, the only setting he has: Everything will be OK in the end.”
Mieke Eerkens; All Ships Follow Me; Picador; 2019.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments; tenderness for what he is, and respect for what he may become. -Louis Pasteur, chemist and bacteriologist (27 Dec 1822-1895)

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