Dig Into History

Hello,

My name is Pepper. I

am in second grade. My

mom is letting me use

her phone to send you

my word from the April

DIGmagazine.

My word is:

aliytegm

It means:a thread-like

material that will harden

into unbreakable steel

RYHU WKH ğUH

That is

a great word,

Pepper! Thanks so

much for sharing!

And — readers — howabout including

Pepper’s word in aconversation

sometime!

16

BE INVENTIVE

Use the letters above to create a

word you would like to add to the

dictionary of the English language.

(PDLO\RXUZRUGDQGLWVGHğQLWLRQ

to [email protected] or mail it

to: My Word, DIG Magazine, 70 East

Lake Street, Suite 800, Chicago, IL

60601. We will print some of the
       most creative and interesting in an
       upcoming issue of DIG Into History.

M

E TYAJ L P

WORD ORIGINS

Empire Here’s a term with a very simple

story. It traces its origin toimperium,the

Latin word the ancient Romans used to

mean “power, command, authority.” A

look at the word “empire” in the Romance

Languages (the languages that derive

from Latin) shows thatimperiumGHğQLWHO\

held sway over all: empire(French),impero

(Italian),imperio(Portuguese),imperiu

(Romanian), andimperio(Spanish).

Enemy Here’s another word with a simple

story. It derives from the Latininimicus

(“unfriendly”). But, let’s dig a bit more into

this term’s etymology (origins of words).

'LVVHFWLQJ WKH /DWLQ LQLPLFXV ZH ğQG WKDW

it is a combination of two Latin words: the

SUHğ[in(“not”) and nounamicus(“friend”).

Now, let’s follow through on the use of the

SUHğ[in. What often happens it that the

“n” changes to become a letter identical to

Artist Tom Lopes has incorporated several of the words/

expressions highlighted in this section into his

illustration. We have labeled one. Can you find others?

See page 47 for the answers.

FUN WITH

WORDS

WKHğUVWOHWWHURIWKHZRUGLWLVQHJDWLQJ

+HUHDUHVRPHVLPSOHH[DPSOHVZLWKWKH

“positive” word in green and the “negative”

one in red: legal (illegal), mobile (immobile),

numerable (innumerable), and reconciliable

(irreconciliable).

n