Word of the Day
pathos
noun
the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, music, speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity, or of sympathetic and kindly sorrow or compassion.
More about pathos
The English noun pathos comes directly from Greek páthos “suffering, sensation, experience,” related to the verb páschein “to suffer, be affected, feel.” Both the noun and the verb come from the Greek root penth-, ponth, path-. The root path- also forms the noun pátheia “suffering, feeling” and is the second element of apátheia, empátheia, and sympátheia, source of English apathy, empathy, and sympathy. From the root penth- Greek forms the word nēpenthḗs “banishing suffering,” (literally “unsuffering”), source of the English noun nepenthe, the name of a drug or plant that brings forgetfulness of pain and suffering. Pathos entered English in the 16th century.
how is pathos used?
Like all other music, it breathed passion and pathos, and emotions high or tender, in a tongue native to the human heart, wherever educated.
Burnham says his overall aim was to use a middle school student to tell a story rooted in the same pathos that drives any good movie about a person’s deepest battles.
forbearance
noun
forbearing conduct or quality; patient endurance; self-control.
More about forbearance
Forbearance was originally a legal term “intentional delay in collection of a debt or enforcement of a contract, the expectation being that the other party will pay the debt or fulfill the contract.” The word very quickly acquired the meaning “patience, restraint.” Forbearance is a derivative of the verb forbear, which descends from the Old English verb forberan “to endure, bear, submit to; abstain from, miss, neglect.” The root verb beran “to bear, carry” comes from the same very common Proto-Indo-European root bher- “carry, bear” as Latin ferre, Greek phérein, Slavic (Polish) bierać, all meaning “to carry.” The prefix for- is a Germanic development of the very complicated Proto-Indo-European prefix per, whose basic meaning is “through, forward, in front of,” as in Latin per “through” and Greek perí “around.” Forbearance entered English in the 16th century.
how is forbearance used?
I had no right to be so angry with you. There should be no limit to a mother’s forbearance.
We rarely think about forbearance in politics, and yet democracy cannot work without it. Consider what American presidents could legally do under the Constitution. They could pardon anyone they want, whenever they want, undercutting congressional and judicial oversight.
andragogy
noun
the methods or techniques used to teach adults: Many educators believe that the principles of andragogy, as advanced by Malcolm Knowles, have great relevance to adult education; others are not so certain.
More about andragogy
English andragogy is modeled upon pedagogy, which ultimately comes from Greek paidagōgía “the function of a paidagōgós,” by extension “education.” A paidagōgós, literally “child guide,” was a slave who walked a child to and from school. Paidagōgós is a compound formed from paid-, inflectional stem of paîs ”child,” and agōgós “guide,” a derivative of the verb ágein “to lead, take away, carry.” The combining form andr- of andragogy is one of the stems of the Greek noun anḗr (aner-, andr-) “man” (as opposed to a woman or child). Greek anḗr comes from Proto-Indo-European ner-, ǝner-, source of Sanskrit nár “man, human,” and the Latin proper name Nerō. According to Roman grammarians, nero among the Sabines, a rural people that lived northeast of Rome, meant fortis ac strenuus “brave and energetic.” In Celtic (Welsh) Proto-Indo-European ner- becomes ner “hero.” Andragogy entered English in the 20th century.
how is andragogy used?
… in the technology of andragogy there is decreasing emphasis on the transmittal techniques of traditional teaching and increasing emphasis on experimental techniques which tap the experience of the learners and involve them in analyzing their experience.
We focus on adults and so prefer to use the term “andragogy.” We’ve found that adults have their own specific challenges in the learning journey, and we’ve specifically set up to address them.