"Every moment of one's life, one is growing into more or retreating into less." - Norman Mailer

Monday, January 22, 2007

not CON, but PRO

provenience: |prəˈvinyəns| noun another term for provenance .
provenance: |ˈprävənəns| noun the place of origin or earliest known history of something : an orange rug of Iranian provenance. • the beginning of something's existence; something's origin : they try to understand the whole universe, its provenance and fate. See note at origin . • a record of ownership of a work of art or an antique, used as a guide to authenticity or quality : the manuscript has a distinguished provenance. ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from French, from the verb provenir ‘come or stem from,’ from Latin provenire, from pro- ‘forth’ + venire ‘come.’

compliments of Apple Dictionary 2005

I read the word 'provenience' in my Archaeoloogy textbook and was like, "WTF, mate?" So I happily searched for it in the dictionary. Aren't dictionaries fantastic?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hello Clare!
Word exchange!
I just scouted out a word with an enjoyable multi-pronged definition:

rusticate=
1. to go to the country
2. to stay or sojourn in the country
...
6. Brit. to suspend (a student) from a university as punishment.

What a turn! If ever I find myself in a tweed jacket, I must threaten someone with this terrible terrible end.
(from Webster's Encylopedic Unabridged Dictionary 1997)