Capricorn 22: A general accepting defeat gracefully

T h e k e y w o r d g e n era l d e s ce n d s f r o m t h e I n d o - E u r op e a n ( I E ) r o o t g en ew h i c h m e a n s t o g i v e b i r t h, b e g e t a n d f r o m w h i c h d e s c e n d ge n de r, ge ne,

ge n t ee l , ge n e ric , ge n e si s, ge ne ra l , ge n e ro u s, ge n ot ype , gen o c i de, gen u i ne , ge n i u s, ki n g, m a l i gn , na ti ve , n a ti o n, n a t a l, n a t u re, p ro ge n i to r , a n d p ro geny

a m o n g m a n y ot h e rs . 1 T h e w o r d a cc ept i ng d e s ce n d s f r o m t he I E r o o t k ap- , t o g r a s p . 2 P a r o n y m s i n c l u d e h e ddl e ( o n e o f t he s e t s o f p a r a l le l d o ub l e d t h r e a d s i n a l o o m ) , h e a vy , h a ven , h a wk ( b i r d o f p re y ) , ga f f ( a l a r g e i r o n h o o k a t t a c he d t o a p o le ) , h e f t , ca b l e , ca i ti f f ( a d e s p i c a b le c o wa r d ; a w r e t c h ) ,

c a p ia s ( a w a r r a n t fo r a r r e s t ) , ca pt u re , c a t c h , c a te r , c h a s e ( t o p u r s u e ) , c o p ( t o t a k e u n la w f u l l y o r w i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o n ) , c op p e r ( a p o l i ce o f f i c e r) , a c c e pt , a nt i c ip at e , c o n c e i ve , de ce i ve , h a ve , ha wk , re c ei ve , i n c ep ti o n , o c c u p y , p a rti c ip a te , pe rc e i ve , re c i pe , re c o ve r , h o o f, be h oo ve , c op ep o d
( m i n ut e m a ri n e a n d f r e s h w a t e r c r u s t a c e a n s ) , a n d b e ha ve . T h e w o r d d e f e at d e s c e n d s f r o m t he I E r o o t d h e- w h i c h me a n s t o se t , p u t . 3 T h e A H DE L li s t s o v e r 1 5 0 p a r on y m s . A m o n g t he m a r e a f f a i r,

a f f e c t i on , a m p li f y , a rt i f a c t, b e ne f i t , bo u t i q ue , b o de ga , co n di m e nt , c o n f e t ti , de e m, pe rf e c t , de f a c e , di f f i c ul t , de f ec t , do , e f f e ct , e f f i c i en c y , f a a de , fa c e, f a ct , fa c t i on , fa c t o ry , fe at , f ea t u re , f et i s h, in f e c t i on , m o di f i c a t io n , o f f i ce , p e rf e ct , p ro f i t , qu a l i f i c at i o n , s u f fi c ie n c y , s u rf a c e , t h e m e , a n d t h e si s .
T h e w o r d g r a ce fu lly d e s ce n d s f r o m t he I E r o o t gwe re -3 w h i c h m e a n s t o f a v o r a n d f r om w h i c h a l s o d e s ce n d t h e w o r d s gra t ef u l , gra t i f y,
1 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 26 2 Watkins, C. (2000), The American H eritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 37 3 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 17 Starling Hunter 2011 1

gra t i t u de , gra t u it y , a gre e , c o n gra t u la te , a gre e , di s gra c e , i n gra t e , m a u gre ,

a n d b a rd . 4 TH EMES : T he f i r s t t h e m e c on c e r n s E LE GA NCE . R e ca l l t h a t t h e w o r d

ge n t ee l i s a p a r o n ym o f g e n e ra l a n d me a n s r e f i n e d i n ma n n e r ; w e l l -b r e d
a n d p o li t e , f r e e fr o m v u l g a r i t y o r r u d e n e s s , st r i v i n g t o c o n v e y a m a n n e r o r a p p e a ra n c e o f r e fi n e me n t a n d r e s p e c t a b i li t y a n d e l e g a n t l y s t y l i s h. 5 T h e k e y w o r d g r ac efu l me a n s s h o w i n g g o o d m a n n e r s a n d r e s p e ct f o r o t he r p e o p l e 6, c h a r a ct e r i z e d b y e l e g a n ce o r b e a u t y o f f o r m , m a n n e r, m o v e m e n t , or speech; elegant.7 A s e c o n d t he m e c on c e r n s I LL -WIL L . Th e w o r d m a l i gn i s a p a r on y m o f g e ne ra l a n d a s a v e r b i t me a n s t o m a k e e v i l , h a r m f u l , a n d o f t e n un t r u e statements about; speak evil. As an adjective it means evil in d i s p o s i t i on , n a t u re , o r i n t e n t a n d h a v i n g o r s h o w i n g ma l i c e o r i l l w i l l ; m a l e v o l e n t . 8 T h e w o r d m a u gre i s a p a r o n y m g r ac e ful ly a n d i t m e a n s n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g a n d i n sp i t e o f. 9 T h e w o r d a l s o d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e O l d F r e n c h m a u gre w h i c h w a s a c o mp o u n d o f t h e m a l - o r m a u - w h i c h m e a n b a d a n d g r e w h i c h m e a n s l i ki n g , p l e a s u r e a n d t h u s q u i t e l i t e r a l l y me a n t s p i t e o r i l l - w i l l. 10

4 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 34 5 http://education.yahoo.com/referenc e/dictionary/entry/genteel 6 http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/graceful#graceful_8 7 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/graceful 8 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/malign 9 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/maugre 10 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 / m a u g r e Starling Hunter 2011 2