word for today
June 7, 2007
an·te·bel·lum (ān'tē-běl'əm) adj. Belonging to the period before a war, especially the American Civil War.
[Latin ante bellum : ante, before + bellum, war.]
I knew it was "before" something but didn't pause long enough to parse "bellum" into its other incarnations such as "bellicose" or war-like. When I was in grades 3 through 5, we lived in the tidewater area of Virginia and we visited many of the antebellum plantations on school trips and family outings. For some reason, I confuse this word with "antediluvian" which is "before the flood". On the other hand -- "war", "flood" -- they both tend to end up as a big mess that someone has to clean up.
I was reading this entry at Orange Crate Art and it got me thinking.
an·te·bel·lum (ān'tē-běl'əm) adj. Belonging to the period before a war, especially the American Civil War.
[Latin ante bellum : ante, before + bellum, war.]
I knew it was "before" something but didn't pause long enough to parse "bellum" into its other incarnations such as "bellicose" or war-like. When I was in grades 3 through 5, we lived in the tidewater area of Virginia and we visited many of the antebellum plantations on school trips and family outings. For some reason, I confuse this word with "antediluvian" which is "before the flood". On the other hand -- "war", "flood" -- they both tend to end up as a big mess that someone has to clean up.
I was reading this entry at Orange Crate Art and it got me thinking.
Labels: words
posted by JuliaR | 6/07/2007 03:26:00 p.m.
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