Aquarius 12: People on stairs graduated upwards

T h e w o r d p eo pl e e n t e r e d t he E n g l i s h la n g u a g e i n t h e la t e 1 5 t h c e n t u r y f r o m t h e L a t i n p op u l a ri s m e a n i n g b e l on g i n g t o t h e p e op l e a n d t h e L a t i n p o p u l u s w h i c h m e a n s p e op l e . T h e m e a n i n g o f p opu la r a s we l l - l i k e d , a d m i r e d b y t h e p e op l e d a t e s t o the very early 17th century.1 T h e w o r d s t ai r de sc e 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 st ei gh - w hi c h m e a n s t o s t r i d e , st e p , ri s e . 2 I t s p a r o n y m s i n c l u d e s t y ( i n f la m m a t i o n o f on e o r m o r e se b a c e o u s g l a n d s o f a n e ye l i d ) , s ti rru p ,

s t i l e , st i c kl e , s ti c h ( a li n e o f v e r s e ) , s ti t c h , a c ro s ti c , c a das t re , di s t ic h , s t i c h o m et ry ( t he di v i s i on o f a p r o s e p i e c e i n t o l i n e s o f f i x e d l e n g t h o r
i n t o li n e s w h o s e le n g t h s c o r r e sp o n d t o t h e n a t u r a l d i vi s i o n s o f s e n s e ) , a n d s t oi c h i o m et ry ( c a l c u l a t i on o f t he q u a n t i t i e s o f re a c t a n t s a n d p r o d u c t s i n a c he mi c a l r e a c t i on ) . T h e w o r d g r a du at ed d e s ce n d s f r o m t h e I E r o ot g hr edh - w h i c h m e a n s t o w a l k , g o a n d f r o m w h i c h a l s o d e s c e n d t h e w o r d s a ggre s s ,

c e n ti gra de , c on gres s , de gra de , de gre e , de gre ss i o n , di gre s s , e gres s , gra de , gra du a l , gree , gre ss o ri a l , i n gre di e nt , i n gre ss , in t ro gre s s io n,

1 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=popular 2 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 85 Starling Hunter 2011 1

p i nn i gra de , p la n ti gra de , p ro gre s s , re gre s s , re t ro gra de , re t ro gre s s , t a rdi gra de , a n d t ran s gre s s .
T h e w o r d up d e s ce n d s f r o m t h e I E r oo t u po - w h i c h m e a n s un d e r , up f r o m u n d e r , o v e r. 3 P a r o n y m s i n c l u d e t h e w o r d s a b o ve , u p , o pe n , o f te n ,

s u p i ne , va l e t , e a v es , a n d o p a l.
T h e s u f f i x - wa rd de s c e n d s f r o m t h e IE r o o t we r-4 w h i c h m e a n s t o p e r c e i v e , w a t c h o ut f o r . 4 I t s p a r o n y ms i n c l u d e wa ry, a wa re , wa re ( t o b e a w a r e o f ) , l o d ( a ve i n o f mi n e ra l o r e ; a r i c h s o u r c e o r s up p l y) , s t e wa rd ,

gu a rd , ga rde rro b e , re ga rd , re a rwa rd ( r e a r g u a r d o f a n a rm y ) , wa re ( a n

a r t i c l e o f c o m m e r ce ) , wa rd , A rc t u ru s , p yl o ru s , e p h o r, pan o ra m a , a n d

re ve re ( t o r e g a r d w i t h a w e , d e f e r e n ce , a n d d e v o t i on ) .
TH EMES : O n e c l e a r t h e m e c on c e r n s t he U P WARD d i r e ct i on . F i r s t , r e c a l l t h a t t he w o r d s t ai r de s c e n d s f r o m t h e I E r o o t st ei gh - w h i c h m e a n s t o st r i d e , s t e p , r i se . T h e w o r d r i s e m e a n s t o e x t e n d up w a r d a n d t o s l a n t o r s l o p e u p wa r d . 5 T h e k e y w o r d g ra du at e d de s c e n d s f r o m t h e I E r o o t g hr edh - w hi c h m e a n s t o w a l k , go . On e p a r o n y m s o f t h i s w o r d i s

gra d e w h i c h c a n me a n a sl o p e o r g r a d u a l i n c l i n a t i o n . 6 F i n a l l y, t h e
k e y w o r d u p ob v i o us l y c o n n o t e s t hi s i d e a . S e c o n d l y, t h e i d e a o f WA LKI NG i s a l s o e m p h a s i z e d a m on g t h e a b o v e . S p e c i f i ca l l y , n o t e t h a t g hr edh - , t h e r oo t o f g r adu at ed , me a n s t o w a l k , g o w h i l e s t ei gh - , t h e r o o t o f st ai r , me a n s s t r i d e a n d s t e p wo r d s w h i c h a r e synonyms of walk.7

3 4 5 6 7

Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 94 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 99 -100 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/rise http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/grade http://thesaurus.com/browse/walk Starling Hunter 2011 2