When you hear the name medusa, the first thought that runs through your mind is of the gorgon. Well, there's more to the word, in the past and present. Medusa is a name as Greek as the myth, but the word goes back to Ancient Greek medein, "to protect" (that's, ironically, just how the name worked out). Probably through Proto-Hellenic, this traces to the Proto-Indo-European root med, which meant "to take measures", since protection requires taking measures to ensure it be so. Med is also the root of the English word mode, through Latin modus and Old French mode. Now, the word Medusa has been in English for a very long time, but a newer definition emerged when Carolus Linnaeus used it to describe a jellyfish species, and indeed the name still exists today. So two descendants of the Greek word for "protector" do exactly the opposite of protecting: one petrifies, the other stuns. Weird.
3 Comments
Krista
5/26/2020 11:36:58 am
Is not the one who petrifies and stuns protecting themselves?
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Alexandra
8/15/2020 09:36:20 pm
Thank you sistar Krista! Precisely my sentiments. <3
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Krista
8/17/2020 09:12:49 pm
<3 Thank YOU, siSTAR! <3 Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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AUTHORHello! I'm Adam Aleksic, a sophomore studying linguistics and government at Harvard University, where I founded the Harvard Undergraduate Linguistics Society. I also have disturbing interests in politics, vexillology, geography, board games, conlanging, and law.
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