omphaloskepsis | Word of the Day

August 21, 2019 omphaloskepsis [om-fuh-loh-skep-sis] noun 1. contemplation of one's navel as part of a mystical exercise; navel-gazing. ways-to-say 11 Unique Words Or Phrases For Wedding Vows And Toasts slang The Greatest Language Hits Of Black Music WORD OF THE DAY omphaloskepsis continued... QUOTES Finally the flesh dies and putrefies; and the spirit presumably putrefies too. And there's an end of your omphaloskepsis, with all its by-products, God and justice and salvation and all the rest of them. -- Aldous Huxley, Those Barren Leaves, 1925 ORIGIN It is not surprising that omphaloskepsis, a noun meaning "contemplating one's navel" and implying contempt, first occurs in Aldous Huxley's satirical novel Those Barren Leaves (1925). (The equally dismissive adjective omphaloskeptical is first recorded in 1978). It is easy to deconstruct omphaloskepsis: omphalós in Greek means "navel, bellybutton, a boss on a shield," which comes from the very common Proto-Indo-European root enebh- with variants embh-, ombh-, nobh-, nōbh-, nebh- "bellybutton, boss of a shield, hub of a wheel." Enebh- is the source of Latin umbilīcus "bellybutton" (from ombh-) and umbō "the boss of a shield" (also from ombh-); Sanskrit nābhīlam "bellybutton" (from nōbh-); Old Irish imblin, imbliu "bellybutton" (from embh-); Old High German naba and Old English nafu, both meaning "hub" (from nobh-); Old High German nabalo and Old English nafela, both meaning "bellybutton" (English navel). The Greek noun and combining form sképsis, -skepsis "viewing, perception, examination, speculation" is a derivative of the verb sképtesthai "to look around, look back, consider, survey, spy on." Sképtesthai comes from much earlier Greek skepjesthai, from the Greek root skep- and the present tense suffix -j- (representing the same sound as in yet). Latin has the verb specere "to look at, see, observe," whose present tense form speciō shows the same suffix -j-. The Latin root is spec- (i.e., spek-) and the Greek is skep-: which one is "correct"? The answer comes from other languages: Germanic has spehōn "to watch, spy on" (from Proto-Indo-European spek-), Sanskrit has spáśati "he sees" (from the Sanskrit root spaś-, from earlier speś-, from an even earlier spek-). Greek "loses." MORE FOR YOU 1 Spanish Expressions You May Have Overheard In Casual Conversations We've rounded up some less familiar Spanish terms abuzz in popular culture or conversation (you know, how people actually talk). A quick warning: There will be some strong language and adult content ahead. 2 Why Is "Bisexual" Such A Charged Word In 2019? As the language around gender and sexuality broadens, what it means to be bisexual broadens, too—making it all the more important to attend to the health needs and outcomes for a growing population that is often overlooked when we talk about the LGBTQ community as a whole. 3 Dictionary.com Presents The Gigantic, Gratifying, Grammar Gameshow YES, grammar can be fun ... keep watching ... because we've asked these 2 people to join our first ever Gigantic, Gratifying, Grammar Gameshow. 4 Exculpate, Mockumentary, Burpless, And Other Words That Trended On Dictionary.com This Past Week In this batch of trending words, we offer a "stirring" mix of 10 terms that trended (i.e., significantly increased by percentage measured against searches on the the previous day). 5 How The Letter "X" Creates More Gender-Neutral Language As our understanding of gender expands from the binary of male and female to include intersex, nonbinary, and transgender people, we are exploring new ways of describing gender identity and expression—and the letter X has the power to help. © 2019 Dictionary.com, LLC. ABOUT CONTACT You are subscribed to the Word of the Day as: matzom229@gmail.com Subscriber since: September 06, 2017 Unsubscribe Dictionary.com, LLC. 555 12th Street Suite 400 Oakland CA 94607 Manage your subscription Terms & Privacy