GRE Word List #21: What's in a name? | GRE Blog

Hello folks! Welcome to the 9th blog of the GRE English Word List. This series of blogs is a weekly GRE Words List that helps GRE aspirants bolster their GRE English, and ace the GRE Verbal section.

If you haven’t already, check out our other blogs here.

Back at it with the white vans

We're back to themed lists, with today's themed GRE English Word List - BadJectives. Adjectives that have negative connotations, or in some cases, are straight-up vices.
This week's words are Narcissistic, Lackadaisical, Hedonistic, Irascible and Machiavellian.
Read on for some interesting word origins and trivia.

i. narcissistic

Part of Speech - adjective
Definition - having or showing an excessive interest in or admiration of oneself and one's physical appearance.
Word Origins - from the Greek name Narkissos/Narcissus + -ism.
Synonyms - vain, self-centred, egocentric.
Usage - He’s such a narcissist that his walls must be covered in mirrors.

Narc is sus

This Greek origin story is a twofer - Two mythical figures having a shared origin story. Seldom ends well, and this one isn't any different.
This is one version of the myth - Ovid's Metamorphoses - but is generally accepted to be true.

When Narcissus was born, a great seer made a prediction about Narcissus' life. He said that Narcissus would live long if he didn't discover himself (See the irony in that?).
Years later, Echo, a nymph became attracted to Narcissus and stalked him. Sensing that he was being followed, Narcissus asked, 'Who's there?' Echo repeated "Who's there?" and revealed herself.

A bit of context - Echo was a mountain nymph who was ordered by Zeus to distract Hera while he consorted with other nymphs. Echo was a fast-talker and managed to do so long enough for Zeus to escape. So, Echo incurred Hera's wrath and was cursed by Hera to be only able to repeat the last words spoken to her.

Back to Narcissus

Startled by her approach, Narcissus rebuffed her advances and left Echo heartbroken. Echo withdrew from society and became so lonely, that quite literally, only an echo of her remained. Yet, she still pined for Narcissus.

Nemesis, the Goddess of Revenge, wanted Narcissus to get his comeuppance.
She made him come across a body of water, in which he caught his reflection.
So taken by his own image, he fell in love with it, neither able to divert his gaze nor do anything about his love.
As he lay wasting away over his love, he uttered "Oh marvellous boy, I loved you in vain, farewell" and turned into a flower. Echo, who was watching, uttered "farewell" and faded away as well. Only her voice remained, destined to repeat what others say.

Sorry for ruining the fun of every Echo Point you visit henceforth.

[Fun Fact: The Portrait of Dorian Gray is based on the myth of Narcissus.]

ii. lackadaisical

Part of Speech - adjective
Definition - lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy.
Word Origins - mid 18th century (also in the sense ‘feebly sentimental’): from lackaday or its obsolete extended form lackadaisy.
Synonyms - careless, lazy, unenthusiastic.
Usage - His parents did not approve of his lackadaisical attitude towards his studies.

Upsy-Daisy

Unlike what the word seems to suggest, the origins of lackadaisical has nothing to do with daisies.
One story suggests that it originated from alas/alack and grew to 'alack the day' as referenced in Romeo and Juliet. In this context, the word suggests regret or disappointment.

The other variant is more in line with the modern usage (if any) of the word.
The phrase 'alack the day' was taken and made to sound whimsical, by apparently adding a 'sical' to the end, thus giving the word a slightly less sombre meaning.
To get a better account of how lackadaisical traces its origins, check this blog out.

iii. hedonistic

Part of Speech - adjective
Definition - engaged in the pursuit of pleasure; sensually self-indulgent.
Word Origins - from Greek hēdonē ‘pleasure’ + -ism.
Synonyms - self-indulgent, luxurious, excessive.
Usage - If you overcome your inhibitions, you’re free to express your hedonistic tendencies.

The Pleasure's All Mine

Hedonism as a concept has been part of most civilizations. The earliest instance of advocacy of hedonism is believed to be in the ancient Sumerian Civilization. Then on, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans seem to have taken it to heart. There's a reason 'Bacchanalian', a word derived from the Roman god Bacchus, has come to signify the most extravagant and wildest of parties/revelries.

However, as time went on, the ideology of conservatism and modesty started gaining traction.
Some religions started considering hedonism a sin, and either outright condemned it or advocated moderate measures of hedonism, asking practitioners to consider morality, responsibility, etc. as more important than seeking pleasure for its own sake.

Modern philosophers looked at hedonism from the perspective of utilitarianism.
Utilitarians aim for the maximization of happiness for themselves as well as others affected.

Bentham and Mill, two English philosophers had two contrasting theories about pleasure.
Bentham stated that he could measure pleasure quantitatively. The value of pleasure is its intensity multiplied by its duration. In contrast, Mill believed that pleasure was purely qualitative - people could experience different intensities and layers of pleasure. He also said that lower beings (used pigs as an example) are content with lower forms of pleasure, whereas higher beings are in the pursuit of higher quality of pleasure, and often ignore what's easily available.

iv. irascible

Part of Speech - adjective
Definition - having or showing a tendency to be easily angered.
Word Origins - from late Latin irascibilis, from Latin irasci ‘grow angry’, from ira ‘anger’.
Synonyms - irritable, short-tempered, cranky.
Usage - The Hulk is irascible; he’s always angry.

v. Machiavellian

Part of Speech - adjective
Definition - cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics.
Word Origins - someone who schemes like Niccolo Machiavelli.
Synonyms - devious, sly, conniving.
Usage - His Machiavellian plan to usurp the king's throne was successful.

The Chanakya Of Florence

Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat and politician who lived during the Renaissance.
In his political treatise "Il Principe' or 'The Prince', he made clear his opinions and principles for politics.
He maintained that politics didn't need emotion. According to him, it was a chess game between opponents, not enemies.
He condoned and in fact, advocated the use of 'dishonest' and 'cruel' means by rulers to get what they wanted. This was as long as the intention behind the actions, and the ends were beneficial to the larger population.

He wasn't the first to advocate divorcing politics and emotion, however. Closer home, over a millennium ago, Chanakya had already advocated and executed his Arthashastra to great success and infamy. To read more about the legend of Chanakya across cultures, click here.

Machiavelli's works were so influential, they contributed to the negative connotations/perceptions people have of the words 'politics' and 'politicians'.
An apocryphal tale also claims it's because of him that The Devil has the nickname - 'Old Nick.'

Rapper Tupac was greatly influenced by Machiavelli's works, when in prison.
He changed his stage name to Makaveli when he got out; and the rest, as they say, is history.

That's all for this week's blog, folks.
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Hello folks, welcome to the 21st GRE Word List Blog. This series of blogs aims to provide GRE Vocabulary practice in the form of a comprehensive GRE Word List to bolster your GRE Preparation.

Last time, I wrote about some electrifying words that might find their way into the sentence equivalence and test completion sections of the GRE test, along with interesting stories about Benjamin Franklin (the MVP of the all-rounders), Pokemon, and more!

You can read that here in GRE Word List Blog #20!

This GRE vocabulary blog is about words that derive their names from people, real and fictional – eponyms! (which is sadly not an eponym itself) This blog’s GRE Words are algorithm, draconian, mesmerize, boycott, and hermetic.

Without a shadow of a doubt

You may be wondering what the image above has to do with the blog, now that you know the theme. Well, the image contains a silhouette of a person. A silhouette is a featureless image of a living being or object, depicted typically, in all black.

Etienne de Silhouette was a French finance minister, under whom the French people were subject to severe economic restrictions, due to the Seven Years’ War. As a result of some of the restrictions, photography and portrait-making became luxurious commodities. So, the cheapest way to record a person’s image was to make a silhouette out of their person, using black card.

With Wordle becoming a global cultural phenomenon, several spinoffs have been created, some more enjoyable and worthwhile than others. Worldle is one such spinoff – a game akin to Wordle, where you have 6 attempts to guess a country/territory using its silhouette. Hints include how far you are from the intended country, and which direction you should move in. Check it out here!

Points of Author-ity

Starting off with two words that are not so common in the GRE, but a must-know given the theme, we’ll look at Kafkaesque and Orwellian.

Franz Kafka was a Czech novelist who often wrote about surreal and bizarre topics, especially in his piece de resistance, ‘The Metamorphosis‘ – a book about a salesman who wakes up one morning to find that he has transformed into a giant insect. His books also tackled the trope of an isolated protagonist going up against socio-bureaucratic powers.

George Orwell is well-known for ‘Animal Farm,’ a book about a group of animals rebelling against a farmer to improve their conditions, and one that deals with the theme of dystopia, and for ‘1984,’ another classic that deals with totalitarianism, and surveillance, among other serious themes.

The Simpsons, a famous, long-running, animated show included a really good bit in their episode, ‘Orange Is the New Yellow,’ to illustrate what the two adjectives mean. Officers arrest Marge for letting Bart play alone in the park. The judge sentences her to 90 days for the ‘offence’, and Lisa, ever the cultured one, yells out ‘That’s Kafkaesque,’ referencing the absurd bureaucratic punishment. The judge replies, “I’ve got my eye on you.” Lisa bursts out, “Now it’s Orwellian!”

Comedy. Gold.

i. algorithm

Part of Speech – noun
Definition – a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.
Word Origins – late 17th century (influenced by Greek arithmos ‘number’) of Middle English algorism, via Old French from medieval Latin algorismus.
Synonyms – formula, theorem, contrivance.
Usage – Self-teaching algorithms will get better and better at making suggestions.

What do you call a song to save the environment?

No, not MJ’s Heal the world. An ‘Al Gore rhythm.’

With that over with, let’s dive into the origin of this GRE Word.

Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī was a Persian polymath who came up with the first system of linear and quadratic equations. His name is the origin of the above term ‘algorism’ and eventually, algorithm. He wrote a book on calculation that involved ‘completion and balancing’ and that book is said to be the origin of the word ‘algebra.’

Algebra, though used in a mathematical context nowadays, was initially used in medical contexts as ‘al-jabr’ – mending or putting together bones. He’s also said to have contributed meaningfully to trigonometry.

ii. draconian

Part of Speech – adjective
Definition – excessively harsh and severe
Word Origins – late 19th century: from the name of Draco + -ian
Synonyms – harsh, stringent, authoritarian.
Usage – The government took draconian measures to curb the protests.

“My father shall hear about this”

Very different to his teenage namesake who’d terrorise teen wizards millennia later, Draco was an ancient Athenian lawgiver in the 7th century BC, who repealed the existing oral laws and blood feuds prevalent in Athens, and committed a set of laws to wooden steles, creating one of the earliest known constitutions.

He laid important legal foundations, such as distinguishing between murder and involuntary homicide, among others. However, the reason why his name became associated with harsh laws – The death penalty was the punishment for even minor offences, such as stealing a cabbage.

Fortunately(?), these laws were repealed within a century and replaced; all, except for the homicide law – it is up to the victim’s relatives to prosecute a killer. If the death was unintentional, the offender is exiled.
To read a bit more about Athenian ostracisms – fascinating proceedings – click here and visit the Ancient Greece section of the GRE Word Blog #2.

iii. boycott

Part of Speech – noun/verb
Definition –
1. withdraw from commercial or social relations with (a country, organization, or person) as a punishment or protest.
2. a punitive ban on relations with other bodies, cooperation with a policy, or the handling of goods.
Word Origins – from the name of Captain Charles C. Boycott (1832–97).
Synonyms – spurn, embargo, moratorium.
Usage – I’ve decided to boycott all non-biodegradable products.

Chuck it out

Charles Boycott, an English land agent for an Anglo-Irish lord, ’employed’ several Irish harvesters and didn’t treat them well. In response, the Irish National Land League started a systematic ‘Denial of Service’ attack against him, persuading or coercing local shopowners to deny him service, and enlisting all local labourers in their cause. Charles was thus driven out of Ireland, and that was the first ‘boycott.’

There have been several famous boycotts, although the British seem to figure in several of them. Most curious, as they would say.

The first, is the Boston Tea Party, an act of protest led by the Sons of Liberty in America, against the British about their attempts to sell tea in America without paying taxes. Several protesters, dressed as American-Indians (natives) threw chests of tea overboard ships in the Boston harbour.

The second, closer home, was the Indians’ boycott of British-manufactured goods, led by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhiji put forth Khadi and other Indian-made products as indigenous alternatives to imported products and contributed to a big part of the Independence movements against the British rule.

Safe to say, the British weren’t too chuffed about these!

iv. mesmerize

Part of Speech – verb
Definition – capture the complete attention of (someone); transfix.
Word Origins – from Franz Mesmer; late 18th century
Synonyms – enthrall, spellbind, bewitch.
Usage – He was mesmerized by the way she taught GRE Vocabulary.

When in Franz

Franz Mesmer was a German doctor who, in the 18th century, developed his theory of animal magnetism. He claimed that humans (and other living beings) possess magnetic fields and our bodies can be healed leveraging our magnetism. Although still classified as ‘alternative medicine,’ his ideas had a mixed reception in 1700s Europe.

He practiced his therapy using magnetism for several mental and psychological ailments, and half of Paris saw him as a madman & the other half, a misunderstood genius. He tried unsuccessfully, to apply to the Royal Academy of Sciences to recognize his doctrines. News of his healing reached King Louis XVI, who appointed an illustrious committee of sorts, to investigate the field of animal magnetism. Antoine Lavoisier (chemist who named H and O), Joseph-Igance Guillotin (inventor of the eponymous French Revolution chopper – the Guillotine), Jean Sylvain Bailly (presided over the Tennis Court Oath, and was later guillotined) , and the electrifying Benjamin Franklin (too awesome to shoehorn a description here) rounded off this committee!

Check out a section about ol’ Ben Franks here in the GRE Word List Blog #20!

v. hermetic

Part of Speech – adjective
Definition –
1. (of a seal or closure) complete and airtight.
2. difficult to understand because intended for a small number of people with specialized knowledge.
Word Origins – mid 17th century, from modern Latin hermeticus, from Hermes.
Synonyms – airtight, waterproof.
Usage – The hermetic seal on the astronauts’ helmet help them stay alive in space.

The Divine Trickster

Hermes is the Greek God of travel, commerce, messages, flocks, and more! He also plays a lot of tricks on his convoluted, Greek, celestial, family-tree members. Check out Homer’s telling of a bovine theft gone wrong here.

A version of him and the Egyptian god of knowledge, Thoth, called Hermes Trismegistus, is supposed to have taught and written about several subjects like philosophy and science. They proposed that the wisdom of the universe consisted of three major disciplines of knowledge – alchemy, astrology, and theurgy.

In mythology, they invented the method for making a glass container airtight using alchemy – what has now come to be known as a hermetic seal.

And that is all for this GRE Word List blog! See you for a very special #22 soon!

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