Happy Mother's Day

There are some things in life that, while longstanding traditions, should never become passé or an anachronism. Mother’s Day is one of those things.

An anachronism is something that is out of date, or out of harmony with the present, something that seems more appropriate to another period in time. It comes through Latin (anachronismus) from the Greek word anachronismos, which is formed from ana- (meaning against) and khronos (meaning time). It is first used in English in the 1640s but took its current meaning in 1816.

Something that is passé is old-fashioned or out of date. Coming directly from the French, the word means faded in French, and was in 1775 used to refer to a woman who had passed the period of greatest beauty. Only the French would have a word for that. A mother's beauty never fades.

Mothers never become anachronistic or passé. Their imprecations on behalf of their children are anodyne and cause most problems to deliquesce.

Imprecations came to English in the 15th Century from Latin; mothers were often in church imprecating for their children, praying, asking, sometimes even begging. The Latin word impreccari is formed from in- (within) and precari (to pray, beg or request). Mothers are known for their imprecations for their children.

A mother’s kiss is well-known to be anodyne. In the 1540s the Middle Latin word anodynus came to English. Again the Latin (anodynus) took directly from the Greek anodynos, which was formed from an- (again meaning without or against) and odyne (meaning pain). There is an anodyne miracle in a mother’s kiss of a scraped knee or bruised feelings.

Problems seem to deliquesce, or melt away, in the arms of a mother. While deliquesce comes to us from science, science has not been able to reproduce the recondite effects of a mother’s care. Deliquesce comes from the Latin word deliquere, which is formed from their word for liquid: liquere, with the de- meaning un. It was used in chemistry in 1756 and developed its general meaning in 1858.

Recondite is defined as beyond the grasp of the ordinary mind or understanding; profound. This “good word” has meant what it means in English since 1649, when it was adopted from the Latin reconditus, the past participle of recondere, which meant store away. Recondere is formed from re- (away, back) and condere (to store, hide, or put together). Condere is formed from con- (together) and dere (to put or place).

A mother’s anodyne imprecations may cause cares to deliquesce in a recondite manner, but are never passé or an anachronism. At least I hope they never become so.

Happy Mother’s Day.