Thursday, July 7, 2011

propitiatory



propitiatory [prəˈpɪʃiəˌtɔri] n.

1.) The golden covering placed upon the Ark of the Covenant and regarded as the resting-place of God. Hence applied to the throne of God in Heaven, and to Christ as ‘the propitiation for our sins’.
2.) Theol. A propitiation; an offering of atonement; esp. said of Christ. Obs.

propitiatory a.

1.) That propitiates or tends to propitiate; of or pertaining to propitiation; appeasing, atoning, conciliating, expiatory; ingratiating (O.E.D. 2nd Edition).

Etymology: Adoption of Late Latin propitiatorium (a rendering of the Koine Greek ἱλαστήριον), place of atonement: noun use of neuter singular of propitiatorius, atoning, reconciling, whence the adj.

"οἳ δὲ πανημέριοι μολπῇ θεὸν ἱλάσκοντο
καλὸν ἀείδοντες παιήονα κοῦροι Ἀχαιῶν
μέλποντες ἑκάεργον: ὃ δὲ φρένα τέρπετ᾽ ἀκούων" (Ἰλιάς, Ὅμηρος, ~850 BCE).

"Propitiatory songs rose clear and strong
until day's end, to praise the god, Apollo,
as One Who Keeps the Plague Afar; and listening
the god took joy" (The Iliad by Homer, Robert Fitzgerald (trans.), 1974).

(Apollo Belvedere, Unknown artist, ~130)
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Just a quick word about the pronunciation of yesterday's phrase, "prima facie": there are quite a few ways of pronouncing this. The one I gave yesterday seems to be the British way. I think the standard American way (this is what I've always said anyway) is "pree-muh fay-shuh", which is also probably as close to the original Latin pronunciation as you can get without annoying everyone. Thanks for reading!

24 comments:

The Onion Gypsy said...

interesting, good post!

DEZMOND said...

love THE ILIAD quote!

Bibi said...

strawl = stroll. Got it. Wasn't doing an accent, that's just one of the mistakes I make when I write and don't feel like researching.

Oh wait, no, I take that back. It was an accent. A Dutch accent. Totally meant to write it like that!

Anonymous said...

RE: Did we? I remember commenting that you really liked classical art based on these posts. I probably did, I forget sometimes. You at least understand that impressionism was a response to the strict rules the academy had set up in Europe at the time right? You don't have to like the stuff, but it's really culturally important.

Unknown said...

First thing that came to mind: Indiana Jones

Zombie said...

sounds like a lovely place to be! lol.

Daily Car Reviews said...

lol bibi you dutch ass!
im dutch too, thats a strange way to write it lol.+1 for the post too.

Unknown said...

This is one I must have read but hasn't stuck in my brain but hopefully it will now.

The quote will help, I think.

D4 said...

Watch me never use this one. Everrrr..

Watch me go back on that in a week.

Once Upon A Time... said...

i'm sry for my lack of explanation - while reading about the Malta Story, i found out that the movie contains real footage of a convoy called "Ohio". I didn't want to watch the whole movie so I checked on youtube cuz i really thought i would find this part - but the only things I could see where bombs, airplanes and crowds of british people pretending to be maltese. I don't know if we're talking about the same movie. I'm sry for not being clear.

no, i didn't know you were american. it was 100% convinced you were from the UK.

ps: is this word an adjective?

jos xx

AllenTesch said...

I think I've actually used this one. Probably when drunk, as I tend to do.

Natasha said...

Wow, haven't heard this one before but from the first explanation I love it. I really like the poem who posted too about Apollo, brilliant. Great post as always. xxx

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Didn't know this word was also a noun -- interesting connection to the Ark of the Covenant. Does Indiana Jones know about this?

Chain said...

Wow this was a great read, I cant even speak japansese

Mai Yang said...

interesting :)
-following ^_^

Mr. Cactus said...

Interesting word today.

Endless said...

hahahaha @ AllenTesch :D

Anonymous said...

It's a very poetic word. Not good for everyday use though.

Magixx said...

sounds nice, keep it up!

A Beer for the Shower said...

I love the word, but I'm distracted by Apollo Belvedere's unsettlingly tiny penis. Is it an innie or an outie?

Igneel21 said...

i use this one all the time

Sub Radar (Mike) said...

What a clever idea for a blog! Followed, can't wait for more.

Anonymous said...

so glad i stumbled upon this blog. very interesting!

Daily Car Reviews said...

never knew this before. thanks for these tips on your blog!
+1

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