Space Is the Place: A Galaxy of Far Out Words: Did You Planet? Words With Surprisingly Spacey Origins

The stars and planets have given us lots of words, but some of them are unexpected. How many of these do you know?
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. capricious
    determined by chance or impulse rather than by necessity
    Indeed, this entire operation reeks of the kind of “arbitrary and capricious” executive action that federal law forbids. Slate (Jul 21, 2020)
    Capricorn is the astrological sign of the ram. Goats leap about from place to place, and that's the likely origin of the term capricious: unpredictable, fickle, changeable.
  2. chronology
    an arrangement of events in time
    In the early morning hours, they serve up a kind of postgame report that offers a chronology of some of the conduct of protesters. Seattle Times (Jul 22, 2020)
    In Greek mythology, Chronos was the personification of time. He was often pictured in paintings and mosaics of that era turning the zodiac wheel, showing the procession of stars through the sky.
  3. consider
    think about carefully; weigh
    "Even before she mentioned it, though, I was kind of thinking that I might be considering tutoring students in lieu of teaching this fall," he said. Salon (Jul 26, 2020)
    Sidereus means "of the stars" or "starlike" in Latin, so to consider something was to consult the stars or an astrologer to see if the omens were good.
  4. disaster
    an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
    Harvey was one of the worst disasters in American history, causing $125 billion in damage in Texas with winds at 130 m.p.h. and record-breaking flooding. New York Times (Jul 25, 2020)
    Aster is "star" in Greek, so a disaster was something that happened under a bad star.
  5. jovial
    full of or showing high-spirited merriment
    He seemed far more relaxed and jovial than he did on his first training-camp videoconference call on July 3, when Trout expressed serious reservations about playing this season amid a global pandemic. Los Angeles Times (Jul 22, 2020)
    The Roman god Jupiter was also known as Jove. People born under that planet had a reputation for being joyful and merry.
  6. lunatic
    an insane person
    He frequently calls the Turkish leader a lunatic and dictator on social media, and once compared him to Hitler. The Guardian (Jun 19, 2020)
    The moon goes through phases, from bright and full to dark and new. Luna is Latin for "moon," so a lunatic originally meant someone whose moods could change dramatically.
  7. martial
    suggesting war or military life
    Born in the borough of the Bronx, break dancing was created during the 1960s by street gangs who modified martial arts moves that were originally learned for defensive purposes. New York Times (Jul 25, 2020)
    The word martian offers a clue for this one. Mars was the Roman god of war, and the area in Rome where troops were housed and trained was known as the Campus Martius: "The field of Mars."
  8. mercurial
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
    But the virus continues to be as mercurial as it is disruptive. Los Angeles Times (Jul 9, 2020)
    Mercury was the messenger of the gods, with wings on his shoes for flying at impossible speeds. The element Mercury, which is the only metal that's liquid at room temperature, is colloquially known as quicksilver for its color and rapid, shape-shifting movement. Someone or something mercurial can change quickly, even instantly, from one state to another.
  9. mundane
    found in the ordinary course of events
    Maybe it was all the mundane tasks Shelton did in the withering Florida heat that his teammates never noticed but his coaches like Sherlock couldn’t miss. Seattle Times (Jul 23, 2020)
    Mundus means "world" or Earth" in Latin, so something mundane is earthy, humble, or common: the opposite of heavenly.
  10. saturnine
    bitter or scornful
    On one wall is the green, glowing, saturnine self-portrait of Andy Warhol. Washington Post
    The Roman god Saturn had a reputation for being sad, mean, and treacherous. Saturnine means those things, and also has a relationship to the element lead. In medicine it's used to describe lead poisoning.
Created on Sat Jun 27 17:03:09 EDT 2020 (updated Sun Aug 09 20:19:47 EDT 2020)

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