Aries 21: A pugilist entering the ring

The word pugilist descends from the Indo-European (IE) root peuk- which m e a n s t o p ri c k . 1 A m o n g i t s p a r on y m s are found the words c o m p u n c t io n , p o in t , p u n ct u a l , e x p u n ge , p o u n ce , pungent, punch, i mp u g n ,

pugnacious,

p u n c t u a t e , p u n ct u r e , p o i g n a n t , a n d t h e verb pink (to stab lightly with a pointed w e a p o n ). The word entering descends from the root en- which means in.2 A m o n g i t s m a n y d e r i v a t i v e s a r e t h e wo r d s e p i s o d e , e s o t e r i c , in , in d i g e n t , i n d u st r y , in n e r , in t e r i m , in t e r io r , in t e s t i n e , i n t r in s i c , a n d i n t r o du c e . F i n a l l y , t h e w o r d r i ng ha s t w o s e n se s . T h e f i r st , w h i ch i n c l u d e s a r e c t a n g u l a r a r e n a s e t o f f b y s t a k e s a n d r o p e s a m o n g i t s d e f i n i t i o n s, d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e r o o t s k er -1 ( t o cu t ) . 3 I t s p a r o n y m s i n c l u d e s h rin k ,

ru c k ( t o ma k e a fo l d i n , c r e a s e ) , f l ou n c e ( a s t r i p o f d e c o r a t i ve , u s u a l l y
gathered or pleated material attached by one edge, as on a garment or c u r t a i n ) , ra n c h , ra n ge , ra n k , rin k , a rra n ge , de ra n ge , ru c ks a c k , c u rb ,

c u rva t u re , c u rve , cre s t , c rep e , c ri sp , ci rc l e , c i rc u s , s ea rch , c ro wn , c o ro n a ,

a n d ri dge . 4 TH EMES : T h e f i r s t t h e m e c o n c e r n s MOVEME NT . A m o n g t h e p a r o n y m s o f p u gi l i st i s t he w o r d p o u n c e ( t o sp r i n g o r s w o o p w i t h i n t e n t t o se i z e s o m e o n e o r s o m e t h i n g ; t o a t t a c k s u d d e n l y ; t o s e i z e so m e t h i n g s w i f t l y a n d e a g e r l y ) . O n e o f t h e p a r o n y m s o f r i ng i s f l o u n ce w h i c h i n t hi s context means to trim with a strip or strips of gathered or pleated

1 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 67 2 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo Eur opean Roots, p. 23 3 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/ring 4 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 78 Starling Hunter 2011 1

m a t e r i a l . 5 H o w e v e r , t h i s w o r d h a s a h o m o n y m , f l o u n ce , w h i c h m e a n s | t o m o v e i n a l i v e l y or b o u n c y ma n n e r a n d t o m o v e w i t h e x a g g e r a t e d o r a f f e c t e d m ot i on s a n d t o m o v e c l um s i l y ; f l o u n d e r . 6 T h u s , n ot on l y d o b o t h p o u n ce a n d f l o u n c e c o n n o t e m o v e m e n t , t h e y m o v e m e n t s a r e of b r o a d l y o p p o s i t e ki n d s . A s e c o n d t h e m e c on c e r n s GEOMET RY . A m o n g t h e p a r o n ym s o f p ugi li st is the word point, one of the basic terms of geometry. Points have no l e n g t h o r w i d t h , j u s t l o c a t i on . O n e o f t h e p a r o n y m s of r i ng i s t h e w o r d

c i rc l e w h i c h i n g e om e t r y i s a p l a n e cu r v e e v e r y w h e r e e q u i d i s t a n t f r o m a
g i v e n f i xe d p oi n t , t h e c e n t e r. 7 T h u s, n o t on l y d o t h e t e r m s p o i nt a n d

c i rc l e f i n d g e o me t ry i n c o m m o n , t he y a r e a l s o f un c t i on a ll y r e l a t e d w i t hi n
that field of study. A t h i r d t h e m e c o n c e r n s GRO UP S , p a rt i c u l a r l y I NNE R C IRCL ES . R e c a ll t h a t on e o f t h e p a r o n y m s o f e nt eri n g i s t h e w o r d eso t e ri c . A m o n g i t s m a n y m e a n i n g s a re i n t e n d e d f o r or u n d e r s t o o d b y o n l y a p a r t i c u l a r g r o u p , o f o r r e l a t i n g t o t ha t w h i c h i s k n o w n b y a r e st r i c t e d n u m b e r o f p e op l e a n d c o n fi n e d t o a s m a l l g r ou p . 8 A n d r e c a l l o n c e a g a i n t ha t o n e o f t h e p a r on y m s o f r i n g i s c i rc le . O n e o f i t s n o n - g e o m e t r i c a l m e a n i n g s i s a g r o u p o f p e o p le s h a r i n g a n i n t e re s t , a c t i v i t y , o r a ch i e v e m e n t . O n e c o m p o u n d p h r a s e t h a t r e l a t e s t o t h i s t h e m e c a n b e f o r me d f o r m p a r o n y m s o f e nt eri ng a n d o f r i n g i s i n n e r c i rc le . T h e w o r d i n n e r m e a n s l o c a t e d o r o c c u r r i n g f a r t h e r i n si d e a n d i n n e r c i r c l e m e a n s a s ma l l, i n t i ma t e a n d o f t e n i n f l u e n t i a l g r o u p o f p e op l e . 9 T h r e e o t h e r d e f i n i t i on s a r e a s ma l l g r o u p o f p e op l e w h o h a ve a lo t o f p o w e r o r i n f l u e n c e w i t h i n a l a r g e r g r o u p a n d t he s m a l l g r o u p o f p e op l e w h o c o n t r o l a n o r g a n i z a t i o n , p o li t i c a l p a r t y, e t c . a n d a n e x c l u s i ve c i rc l e o f p e op l e w i t h

5 6 7 8 9

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/flounce http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/flounce_2 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/circle http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/esoteric http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inner+circle?r=66 Starling Hunter 2011 2

a c o m m o n p u r p o se .

10

O n e d e f i n i t i o n o f m o v e m e n t t h e f i r s t t he m e i s

a n o r g a n i z e d e f f or t b y s up p o r t e r s of a c o m m o n g o a l . T h u s , b r oa d l y w e h a v e a n i m a g e o f i n d i v i d u a l s w i t hi n g r o u p s o r m o v e m e n t s , u n i f i e d i n t h e i r p u r s u i t o f s om e g o a l . B r o a d l y t h e y f a l l i n t o t w o ca t e g o r i e s ( 1 ) t h e f i g h t e r s t he p u gna c i o u s p e o p le a n d ( 2 ) t h e in n e r c i rc l e t h a t i n f l u e n ce s a n d g u i d e s t he m ov e m e n t .

10 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 / i n n e r - c i r c l e ; http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/inner -circle; http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inner+circle?r=66 Starling Hunter 2011 3