Tragedy

• PostEagle
• August 7, 2013
• Word Etymology
• 0 Comments

The word for today has to do with goats. If you recall, last week we had seen the word TRAGEDY which come from the story about the death cry of the goat. The Greek word TRAGEKOS means THE CRY OF THE GOAT.  The Greeks thought that the ululation of the goat upon being slaughtered was so bone-chilling and human-like that they applied it to their drama.

In Latin, the word for goat is CAPRA. From the Latin word for goat, we get the English word CAPRICIOUS which means TO ACT LIKE A GOAT, TO BE DESULTORY, TO TAKE CHANCES.

A CAB is so called because a few hundred years ago, the streets were so bumpy that the horse drawn vehicle bounced quite a bit. It jumped like a goat.

A CAPRIOLE is a leap performed by a horse with all 4 feet leaving the ground with the horse not advancing. This is so called because the goat can do this and does it without training.

CAPRICORN is a sign of the Zodiac. It is the sign of the goat. The Latin word CORNU means HORN.

Years ago the Batman and Robin comic series always referred to CAPERS. So the words CAPER and CAPRICE have to do with the activity and capriciousness of the goat.