Aries 13: An unsuccessful bomb explosion

T h e a d j e c t i v e u n su c c e ss f u l i s c o mp ri s e d o f t h e p r e f i x e s u n - a n d s u c- , a base cess, and a suffix - f u l . Th e p r e f i x u n d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e r o o t n e- w h i c h me a n s n o t . I t s p a r o n y m s i n c l u d e n e ga t e , n e g o t i a t e , n e it h e r , n e v e r , nice, no, none, nor, not, renegade, and renege.1 T h e p r e f i x s u c- d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e r o o t u p o w h i c h m e a n s un d e r , u p f r o m u n d e r , o v e r . A m o n g its paronyms are the words above, up, open, often, s u p in e , va l e t , e a ve s , a n d o p a l . 2 T h e b a s e d e s ce n ds f r o m t h e r o o t k e d - w h i c h means to go; yield. Am ong its paronyms are a b s c e s s , a c c e d e d , a c c e s s , a n c e st o r , a n t e c e d e , c e a se , cession, concede, decease, exceed, i n c e s sa n t , i n t e r ce d e , n e c e s sa r y , p r e ce d e , p r o c e e d , a n d se c e d e . 3 T h e s u f f i x f u l d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e ro o t p e l e - 1 w h i c h m e a n s t o f i l l a n d w h o s e m a n y d e r i v a t i v e s r e fe r t o a b u n d a n ce a n d m u l t i t u d e . 4 T h e s e i n c l u d e a c c o m p l i s h , c o m p l e t e , c o m p l y , d e p l e t e , f i l l , fu l l , f o l k , h o i p o l l o i , implement, p l e be , plenary, plenty, plethora, plural, plus, r e p l e n i sh , r e p l e t e , su p p l y , a n d s u r p l u s . T h e n o u n b o m b 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 6 t h c e n t u r y b y w a y o f t h e F r e n c h b o m b e a n d t he I t a l i a n b o mb a a n d t h e y f r o m t h e L a t i n bo m b u s ( a d e e p ho l l o w n oi s e ; a b u z z i n g o r b o om i n g s o u n d ) a n d t h e G r e e k bo m b o s ( d e e p h o l l o w s o un d ; e c h o i c ) . 5 T h e b a s e o f t h e w o r d e x p l o s i o n i t e n t e r e d E n g li s h i n t h e e a r l y 1 6 t h c e n t u r y w i t h t he me a n i n g t o r e j e c t wi t h s c o r n a n d i t de s c e n d s f r o m t he

1 W ATKINS , C. (2000), T HE A MERICAN H ERITAGE DICTIONARY OF I NDO E UROPEAN ROOTS , P . 57 2 W ATKINS , C. (2000), T HE A MERICAN H ERITAGE DICTIONARY OF I NDO E UROPEAN ROOTS , P . 94 3 W ATKINS , C. (2000), T HE A MERICAN H ERITAGE DICTIONARY OF I NDO E UROPEAN ROOTS , P . 38 4 W ATKINS , C. (2000), T HE A MERICAN H ERITAGE DICTIONARY OF I NDO E UROPEAN ROOTS , P . 64 5 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bomb Starling Hunter 2011 1

L a t i n ex p l o d e r e (t o d r i v e o u t o f o ff b y c l a p p i n g ; h i ss o f f , h o o t o f f ). 6 A c c o r d i n g t o t h e O n l in e E t y mo l o g y D i c t io n a r y , t h e L a t i n e x p l o d e r e w a s o r i g i n a l l y a t he a t r i c a l t e r m m e a n i n g t o d r i v e a n a ct o r o f f s t a g e b y m a k i n g n o i se a n d w a s f o r m e d b y a d d i n g t h e p r e f i x e x - t o t h e v e rb p l a u d e re w h i c h m e a n t t o c l a p t he h a n d s, a p p la u d . T h e p r e f i x e x d e s c e n d s f r o m t he r o o t e g h s - w h i c h m e a n s o u t a n d f r o m w h i c h a l s o d e s c e n d t he w o rd s e x o t e r i c , e x o t ic , e x t e r n a l , e xt e r io r , e x t r e me , a n d s t r a n ge . 7 T H E M E S : A s i n d i c a t e d i n t h e t a b l e b e lo w , t h e r e a r e s e ve r a l u n d e r l y i n g s e m a n t i c r e la t i on sh i p s t h a t un i t e t he w o r d s a n d a f f i x e s o f t h i s s y m b o l .
Theme Amount Amount Direction Direction Frequency Frequency Frequency (un)common (un)common Promise Promise Customary Customary Arbitration Arbitration Detonation Detonation Relevant Keywords Un-ful SucEx- (out) UnSucCess -ful ExUn-ful -ful UnUnCess Bomb Explosion Never Often Incessant Folk, hoi polloi, plebeian Exotic, strange Renege Comply, fulfill Folk, hoi polloi, plebeian Renegade Negotiation Accede, cede, concede Bomb Explosion Relevant Paronyms No, null, none, negative Filled, full, plus, surplus, plenty Over, under, above, up

6 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=explode 7 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots , p. 22 Starling Hunter 2011 2