Word of the Day
autonomy
noun
independence or freedom, as of the will or one's actions.
More about autonomy
Autonomy “freedom of the will” comes from Ancient Greek autonomía “independence,” which is based on the adjective autónomos “with laws of one’s own.” Autónomos, in turn, is a compound of the elements autós “self” and nómos “law, custom, management, regulation.” Autós should look all too familiar, as its stems aut- and auto- appear in English terms such as authentic (literally “done by oneself”), automatic (“thinking for oneself”), and autopsy (“seeing for oneself”). Meanwhile, nómos is also the ultimate source of the words astronomy (“star regulation”), Deuteronomy (“second law”), and economy (“household management”). Autonomy was first recorded in English circa 1620.
how is autonomy used?
This freedom has sometimes been a source of friction in political quarters. “This extensive autonomy is desirable for designing and carrying out research, but should not necessarily extend to aspects of personnel,” says Holger Becker, a physicist who is a lawmaker in the German parliament and is on the parliament’s research committee.
draconian
adjective
rigorous; unusually severe or cruel.
More about draconian
Draconian “unusually severe or cruel” is based on Latin Dracō (stem Dracōn-), plus the adjectival suffix -ian. In ancient Athens, a city-state that is now the capital of Greece, Draco (known to his fellow Athenians as Drákōn) was a statesman who was famous—or infamous—for the unusually harsh laws he enacted. The Latin common noun dracō means “dragon, serpent” and appears in the motto of the school Hogwarts, from the Harry Potter series: Dracō dormiēns nunquam tītillandus, meaning “A sleeping dragon must never be tickled.” Latin dracō, originally an adaptation of Ancient Greek drákōn, is the source of English dragon, dragoon, and drake. Draconian was first recorded in English in the 1810s.
how is draconian used?
Wyatt was both a victim and a collaborator in a new kind of political system: the totalitarian state. The 16th century may have been the golden age of English literature, but it also fostered an increasingly draconian monarchy.
The U.S. Federal Reserve risks weak economic growth throughout this year due to its backward-looking, “draconian” rate hikes, warned Wall Street’s best-known tech sector bull [Cathie Wood].
dissent
noun
disagreement with the philosophy, methods, goals, etc., of a political party or government.
More about dissent
Dissent “disagreement with a party or government” comes by way of Middle English and Middle French from the Latin verb dissentīre, “to differ, disagree,” which is based on the prefix dis- “apart” and the verb sentīre “to feel, observe.” Dissent is both a verb and a noun, and the noun sense arose in the late 16th century, well over one hundred years after the verb first appeared in English. The Latin verb sentīre has two stems: sent- and sens-. The first of these is found in English sentence, sentient, sentiment, and sentinel, while the second appears in consensus, sense, sensible, and sensual—all of which relate in some way to feeling, thought, opinion, or observation. Sentīre is also the source of numerous Romance language words and phrases related to emotion and perception, including Spanish lo siento “I am sorry” (literally “I feel it”). Dissent was first recorded in English in the early 15th century.
how is dissent used?
Newsrooms should reflect the country, the world that they are covering, and the world is in the middle of some dissent and disagreement and debate right now. I don’t know how we’re supposed to escape that.
Art not only makes concrete the notion that dissent is possible in times of darkness but also reminds viewers that dissent can manifest itself in beautiful and complex forms. Art is a strategy for political activism.