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#2 (permalink) Wed Feb 07, 2007 0:57 am Immortable: a word? |
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I think the word for this is "immortal".
Let's break it down:
mort = death
mortal (n) = something that can (will) die mortal (adj) = fatal
immortal (n) = something that will not die immortal (adj) = perpetual, never-ending (as in "the immortal soul")
I suppose you could use immortable, but you'd be adding unnecessary letters.
Other examples: Apathic/apathETic Empathic/empathETic Sympathic/SympathETic
etc.
None of the verb/noun forms of these words include the "-et":
Empathety Sympathety Apathety
etc.
Someone, at some point, included the -et to the adjective forms of these words, and the rest is history. _________________ Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee. |
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Prezbucky I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 2621 Location: Nashville, TN (USA)
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#3 (permalink) Wed Feb 07, 2007 9:59 am Immortable: a word? |
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Hi Tom,
Thanks a lot for the et-explanation. This is really interesting!
| Quote: |
| Someone, at some point, included the -et to the adjective forms of these words, and the rest is history. |
In particular, Online Etymology Dictionary gives
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| Sympathetic "sharing the feelings of another" is from 1718. |
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=sympathy
About immortable – I just came across the word being referred as a name of a movie ("Immortable" (1988)) and wondered about it’s possible meaning. Google 'provided' some (vague) links, from which I was unable to understand the current 'status' of the ‘word’. That was why I asked.
Thanks again for your interesting answer. _________________ It’s impossible to learn swimming without entering the water… |
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Tamara I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 25 May 2006 Posts: 1577 Location: UK
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#4 (permalink) Thu Feb 08, 2007 16:21 pm Immortable: a word? |
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In chess, we have a game played between Anderssen and Kieseritzky in 1851, which is called the Immortal. Many believe that this is one of the best games ever played, hence the name... _________________ Learning is a sacred engagement. |
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Ahmadov I'm here quite often ;-)

Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 312 Location: Azerbaijan
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#5 (permalink) Thu Feb 08, 2007 18:29 pm Immortable: a word? |
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both of them would have beaten me in like five moves, or fewer.
---
Tamara
Sympathetic is the "-et" adjective I'm inclined to accept. "Sympathetic" is so widely used (way more than empathic/empathetic, for instance) that my ear is used to hearing and saying it.
This raises a neat question:
Which came first, the noun or the adjective?
sympathy, empathy, apathy OR sympath(et)ic, empath(et)ic, apath(et)ic?
If the nouns came first, then whoever decided to include the -et was off, IMO, as the -et does not seem necessary in any of them. If, on the other hand, the adjectives came first, then we have to accept them as they are, I suppose. _________________ Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee. |
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Prezbucky I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 2621 Location: Nashville, TN (USA)
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#6 (permalink) Thu Feb 08, 2007 21:07 pm Immortable: a word? |
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| Quote: |
| Which came first, the noun or the adjective? |
Tom, unfortunately my current level in English does not allow me discussing the topic you started… :( but… even I can dig up… :) and it’s really surprising (for me) to have found that empathy and sympathy actually have come different ways before getting English words:
sympathy 1579, "affinity between certain things," from M.Fr. sympathie, from L.L. sympathia "community of feeling, sympathy," from Gk. sympatheia, from sympathes "having a fellow feeling, affected by like feelings," from syn- "together" + pathos "feeling". (I already quoted that sympathetic is much older.)
empathy 1903, translation of Ger. Einf?hlung (from ein "in" + F?hlung "feeling"), coined 1858 by Ger. philosopher Rudolf Lotze (1817-81) from Gk. empatheia "passion," from en- "in" + pathos "feeling". Empathize (v.) was coined 1924; empathic (adj.) is from 1909.
(c) Online Etimology Dictionary _________________ It’s impossible to learn swimming without entering the water… |
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Tamara I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 25 May 2006 Posts: 1577 Location: UK
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#7 (permalink) Thu Feb 08, 2007 22:51 pm Immortable: a word? |
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YES! EMPATHIC!
I'll emphatically use empathic henceforth. _________________ Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee. |
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Prezbucky I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 2621 Location: Nashville, TN (USA)
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