Taurus 2: An electrical storm

According to the O n l in e

E t y m o l o g y D i ct i o n a r y , t he f i r s t u s e i n E n g l i s h of t h e w o r d electric took p la c e in t he 1 6 4 0 s a n d i s a t t ri b u t e d t o S i r T h o m a s B r o w n e (1 6 0 5 - 1 6 8 2 ) . 1 But Gilbert it was another who E n g l i s h ma n , p h y s i c i s t Wi l l i a m (1540-1603), c o i n e d t he t e r m i n a M o d e r n L a t i n s c i e n t i fi c t r e a t i s e e n t i t l e d D e M a gn e t e ( 1 6 0 0 ) . T h e w o r d s r o o t s a r e b o t h t h e L a t i n e l e ct r u m a n d t he G r e e k e l e ct r o n , b o t h o f w h i c h m e a n a m b e r o r p a l e g o l d (o n e p a r t s i l v e r t o four parts gold). when rubbed. The word storm descends from the IE root (s)twer-1 which means to t u r n , w h i r l. P a r on y m s i n c l u d e t h e w o r d s s t i r , d i s t u r b, t r o u b l e , t u r b id , t u r b i n e , a n d p e r t u r b . 3 A s a n o u n , t h e w o r d s t o r m d e s c e n d s m o st i m m e d i a t e l y f r o m t h e O l d E n g l i s h s t o r m w h i c h i n t u r n d e s c e n d s f r o m t he p r e - G e r m a n i c st u r m a z . F i g u r a t i v e or n o n - m e t e o r o l o g i c a l u s e s o f t h e w o r d m a y h a v e e n t e r e d t h e la n g u a g e i n t h e la t e 1 4 t h ce n t u r y a s a ve r b t a k e n t o me a n t o r a g e , b e vi o l e n t . It s f i r s t u s e i n a mi l i t a r y se n s e , e . g . t o s t o r m a c a s t le , c a m e i n 1 6 4 5 a n d i s a t t r i b u t e d t o t he O l i v e r C r o m w e l l (1599-1658).
4 2

T h e w o r d e l e c t ri c w a s u s e d i n t h a t t r e a t i s e t o

d e s c r i b e d a l l s u b st a n c e s w h i c h l i ke a m b e r , a t t r a ct o t h e r s u b st a n ce s

T H E M E S : R e c a l l t h a t t h e f o l l o w i n g s i x w o r d s a r e p a r on y m s o f s t o rm stir, trouble, turbid, turbine, disturb, and perturb. S e v e r a l o f t he m

1 http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Thomas -Browne 2 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=electric 3 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 87 4 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=storm Starling Hunter 2011 1

h a v e a s e ma n t i c r e l a t i o n s h i p t o t he ke y w o r d e l e c t r i c o r t o i t s e t y m o l o g y. F i r s t , t h e r e i s t he c o m p o u n d w o r d h y d r o e l e ct r i c t u r b i n e , a t u r b i n e c o n s i st i n g o f a la r g e a n d e f fi c i e n t ve r s i o n o f a w a t e r wh e e l u se d t o d r i v e a n e l e ct r i c g e n e r a t o r . M os t o f t he w o r l d s e l e ct r i c it y i s p r o d u c e d b y t u r b i n e s p o w e r e d b y w i n d, w a t e r , s t e a m , o r o t he r f o r m s o f e n e r g y. S e c o n d, t he w o r d t r o u b l e i s li s t e d i n R o g e t s 2 1 s t T h e sa u r u s a s a s y n on y m o f r u b w h e n t h e l a t t e r t a k e s t h e s e n se o f d i f f i c u lt y o r p r o b l e m. 5 T h i r d , t h e w o r d s t ir c a n m e a n t o p r od i n t o b r i s k o r v i g o r o u s a c t i o n a n d t o e x c i t e st r o n g f e e l i n g s i n . 6 T h e w o rd e l e ct r i ca l c a n m e a n e m o t i o n a l l y exciting; t h r i l l i n g and exceptionally tense; h i g h ly charged with e m o t i on . 7 N o t s u rp r i s i n g l y , t h e n , a m o n g t h e s y n o n ym s o f t he w o r d e l e ct r i ca l i s t h e w o r d s t i r r in g . 8 T h e t h r e e t h e m e s t he n a r e G E NE R A T IO N , S T I R R I N G , a n d P RO B L E M .

5 http://thesaurus.com/browse/rub 6 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/stir 7 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/di ctionary/entry/electric 8 http://thesaurus.com/browse/electrical Starling Hunter 2011 2