A.Word.A.Day--paladin

[msesheta]

Wordsmith.org

The Magic of Words

Jan 24, 2012

This week's theme
Words from the Mediterranean

This week's words
argosy
paladin

Ruins of the palace on the Palatine Hill

Photo: Anthony Majanlahti

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

paladin

PRONUNCIATION:

(PAL-uh-din)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A strong supporter of a cause.
2. A heroic champion.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French paladin, from Italian paladino, from palatinus ([officer] of the palace). After Palatine, the name of the centermost of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. Roman emperors had their palaces on this hill. Other words such as palace and palatine derive from the same source. The 12 peers in Charlemagne's court were also called paladins. Earliest documented use: 1592.

USAGE:

"Evo Morales has been a paladin for Mother Earth, recently pushing for international adoption of a Bolivian law granting nature rights."
Bolivia's Amazon Highway a Bumpy Road for Morales, Brazil; Bloomberg (New York); Oct 19, 2011.

"There are those who want Mario Balotelli to be a trailblazer, a paladin of integration. Some kind of cross between Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Jackie Robinson."
The Paradigm of Italian Immigration; The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland); Aug 22, 2010.

Explore "paladin" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

In this world, you must be a bit too kind to be kind enough. - Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux, dramatist and novelist (1688-1763)