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Feb 15, 2022
This week’s theme
Mythological characters who have resulted in multiple eponyms

This week’s words
aphrodite
titanism
boreal
vulcanize
gorgonize

Fall of the Giants by Jacob Jordaens
Fall of the Giants, 1636-1638
Art: Jacob Jordaens

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

titanism

PRONUNCIATION:
(TY-tuh-niz-uhm)

MEANING:
noun: A spirit of nonconformity, rebelliousness, or revolt, against authority, convention, etc.

ETYMOLOGY:
After Titan, any of a family of giant gods in Greek mythology. Titans, under the leadership of Cronus, one of the Titans, overthrew their father Uranus and ruled themselves. Eventually, Cronus’s son, Zeus, rebelled against his father and defeated the Titans. Earliest documented use: 1628.

USAGE:
“But this means that man’s work must be purified of titanism, of self-will, of aspirations to self-assertion and power.”
Thomas Merton; Seasons of Celebration; Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; 1965.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law. -Douglas Hofstadter, professor of cognitive science (b. 15 Feb 1945)

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