ext_22722 ([identity profile] theidolhands.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] 1word1day2015-02-08 06:17 pm

Saturday & Sunday Word: Jeremiad & Eponym

jer·e·mi·ad [ˌjer-ə-ˈmī-əd]:
origin: [biblical] Hebrew; ירמיה= "Jeremiah"

e•po•nym [ˈe-pə-ˌnim]:
origin: [1770-80] Greek; epōnymos,= epi-= "upon" + onyma= "name"


nouns
A jeremiad is a prolonged, seriously-worded, angry, and impassioned list (or account) of woes; a cautionary verse or prophecy of doom; the sort of thing that can get you labeled as a "Debbie Downer" in the modern world, unless put into a catchy rap or country music hit.

The origin of the word references biblical prose from The Book of Jeremiah, making this word an eponym (adjective form) -- a word whose origins can be traced to a proper noun that is real or fictional -- such as teddy bear (Theodore Roosevelt), Dickensian (Charles Dickens), or pavlovian (Ivan Pavlov). However, I encountered the word jeremiad through an author attempting to describe the bodies of male nudists who are famous for joggling about San Francisco!

[Poll #1998455]

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