A.Word.A.Day --odyssey

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Oct 13, 2014

This week's theme
Words from mythology

This week's words
odyssey
cimmerian
narcissist
atlas
charon

Departure of Ulysses from the Land of the Phaeacians

Departure of Ulysses from the Land of the Pheacians

Art: Claude Lorrain (c. 1600-1682)

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Ancient Greek literature is replete with stories of mortals and heroes and gods. Many of these figures have become part of the English language as eponyms, words derived from people's names. All of this week's words have their origins in characters from Greek mythology. Consider it a week of Troy Stories. And if it's too Greek for you, well, my apollogies.

odyssey

PRONUNCIATION:

(AH-duh-see)

MEANING:

noun: A long eventful journey or experience.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Odysseus, whose 10-year wandering after the fall of Troy is described in Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey. Earliest documented use: 1886.

USAGE:

"In The Beast, ... journalist Oscar Martinez chronicled the treacherous odysseys that Central Americans undertake as they cross Mexico. ... The 'beasts' of the title are the trains on which the travelers ride not in boxcars, as American hobos did in earlier times, but on the roofs."
Harold Meyerson; A New Children's March; The Washington Post; Jun 19, 2014.

See more usage examples of odyssey in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way. -Alice Childress, playwright, author, and actor (1916-1994)

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