This week’s theme
Words with surprising etymological journeys

This week’s words
pummel
balladmonger
paregoric


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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(par-uh-GOR-ik)

MEANING:

noun: Something that soothes.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin paregoricus (soothing), from Greek paregorikos (soothing), from paregorein (to speak soothingly to), from para- (beside) + agoreuein (to speak in public), from agora (assembly, marketplace). Earliest documented use: 1671.

NOTES:

You may know agora from agoraphobia (a fear of public places, open spaces, or crowds). It’s the same agora that shows up in the medicinal compound paregoric, a mix of opium and camphor in alcohol. Over time, it has been used to treat diarrhea, cough, pain, and also as a soothing agent. See also, anodyne.

USAGE:

“My little girls -- Susy, aged eight, and Clara, six -- often require me to help them go to sleep, nights, by telling them original tales. They think my tales are better than paregoric, and quicker. While I talk, they make comments and ask questions, and we have a pretty good time. I thought maybe other little people might like to try one of my narcotics -- so I offer this one.”
Mark Twain; Letters from the Earth; Harper & Row; 1962.

See more usage examples of paregoric in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: