A.W.A.D. - Words to Describe People

by Anu Garg

"Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else." Like all genuine humor, this waggish remark carries a grain of truth. There are six billion of us around, and we are very different - in our demeanor, diction, and dreams; in our fingerprints, retinal patterns, and DNA sequences.

Yet, no matter which hand we write with, what language we speak, or what we eat, there is something that binds us all, whether it is our preference for a life free from fear, our efforts to make this world better for us and for others, or our appreciation of beauty of the soul and our longing for love.

With so many people, so many shared traits, and so many differences, there's no wonder we have so many words to describe people. This week we look at five of them.

contumacious
PRONUNCIATION: (KON-tuh-may-shuhs, -tyoo-)
MEANING: adjective: Stubborn, insubordinate

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin contumacia, from contumax, contumac- (insolent)

lachrymose
PRONUNCIATION: (LAK-ruh-mos)
MEANING :adjective:
1. Tearful
2. Relating to or inducing tears

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin lacrima (tear)

peripatetic
PRONUNCIATION: (per-uh-puh-TET-ik)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Moving or traveling from place to place
2. Of or related to walking, moving, or traveling
3. Of or related to Aristotle: his philosophy or his teaching method of conducting discussions while walking about

noun:
1. An itinerant
2. A follower of Aristotle

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin peripateticus, from Greek peripatetikos, from peripatein (to walk about, to discourse while pacing as did Aristotle), from peri- (around) + patein (to walk). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pent- (to tread) that also gave us words such as English find, Dutch pad (path), Hindi path (path), French pont (bridge), and Russian sputnik (traveling companion)

obstreperous
PRONUNCIATION:(ob-STREP-uhr-uhs)
MEANING: adjective: Noisy or unruly

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin obstreperus (clamorous), from ob- (against) + strepere (to make a noise)

coeval
PRONUNCIATION: (ko-EE-vuhl)
MEANING: adjective:
Having the same age or duration.

noun:
A contemporary

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin coaevus, from co- (in common) + aevum (age), from Greek aion (age). Ultimately from the Indo-European root aiw-/ayu- (vital force, life, eternity) that is also the source of ever, never, aye, nay, eon, eternal, medieval, primeval, utopia, Sanskrit Ayurveda

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