cledonism (n.)

"avoidance of words deemed unlucky," 1885, from Latinized form of Greek kledon "omen or presage contained in a word or sound," also "report, rumor, tidings; fame" (from PIE root *kele- (2) "to shout") + -ism.

also from 1885

Entries linking to cledonism

-ism

word-forming element making nouns implying a practice, system, doctrine, etc., from French -isme or directly from Latin -isma, -ismus (source also of Italian, Spanish -ismo, Dutch, German -ismus), from Greek -ismos, noun ending signifying the practice or teaching of a thing, from the stem of verbs in -izein, a verb-forming element denoting the doing of the noun or adjective to which it is attached. For distinction of use, see -ity. The related Greek suffix -isma(t)- affects some forms.

*kele- (2)

*kelə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to shout." Perhaps imitative.

It forms all or part of: acclaim; acclamation; Aufklarung; calendar; chiaroscuro; claim; Claire; clairvoyance; clairvoyant; clamor; Clara; claret; clarify; clarinet; clarion; clarity; class; clear; cledonism; conciliate; conciliation; council; declaim; declare; disclaim; ecclesiastic; eclair; exclaim; glair; hale (v.); halyard; intercalate; haul; keelhaul; low (v.); nomenclature; paraclete; proclaim; reclaim; reconcile.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit usakala "cock," literally "dawn-calling;" Latin calare "to announce solemnly, call out," clamare "to cry out, shout, proclaim;" Middle Irish cailech "cock;" Greek kalein "to call," kelados "noise," kledon "report, fame;" Old High German halan "to call;" Old English hlowan "to low, make a noise like a cow;" Lithuanian kalba "language."

Trends of cledonism

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to Explore

myth

1830, from French mythe (1818) and directly from Modern Latin mythus, from Greek mythos "speech, thought, word, discourse, conversation; story, saga, tale, myth, anything delivered by word of mouth," a word of unknown origin. Beekes finds it "quite possibly Pre-Greek." Myths are

cracker-jack

also crackerjack, "something excellent," 1893, U.S. colloquialism, apparently a fanciful construction; the earliest use is in reference to racing horses. Compare cracker (n.1). The caramel-coated popcorn-and-peanuts confection was said to have been introduced at the World's Colum

crepuscular

figurative use, "dim, indistinct," is attested from 1660s; literal use, "pertaining to or resembling twilight," from 1755, from Latin crepusculum "twilight, dusk," related to creper "obscure, uncertain," from Proto-Italic *krepos "twilight," which is of uncertain origin. It is no

keep

Middle English kēpen, from late Old English cepan (past tense cepte) "to seize, hold; seek after, desire," also "to observe or carry out in practice; look out for, regard, pay attention to," from Proto-Germanic *kopjan, which is of uncertain origin. Old English cepan was used c.

contingent

late 14c., "depending upon circumstances, not predictable with certainty, provisionally liable to exist," from Old French contingent or directly from Latin contingentem (nominative contingens) "happening; touching," in Medieval Latin "possible, contingent," present participle of

elf

"one of a race of powerful supernatural beings in Germanic folklore," Old English elf (Mercian, Kentish), ælf (Northumbrian), ylfe (plural, West Saxon) "sprite, fairy, goblin, incubus," from Proto-Germanic *albiz (source also of Old Saxon alf, Old Norse alfr, German alp "evil spi

inchoate

"recently or just begun," 1530s, from Latin inchoatus, past participle of inchoare, alteration of incohare "commence, begin," probably originally "to hitch up," traditionally derived from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + a verb from cohum "strap (fastened to the oxen's yoke),"

access

early 14c., "an attack of fever," from Old French acces "onslaught, attack; onset (of an illness)," from Latin accessus "a coming to, an approach; way of approach, entrance," noun use of past participle of accedere "to approach," from assimilated form of ad "to" (see ad-) + ceder

disaster

"anything that befalls of ruinous or distressing nature; any unfortunate event," especially a sudden or great misfortune, 1590s, from French désastre (1560s), from Italian disastro, literally "ill-starred," from dis-, here merely pejorative, equivalent to English mis- "ill" (see

myriad

1550s, "the number of 10,000," also "an indefinitely great number," from French myriade and directly from Late Latin myrias (genitive myriadis) "ten thousand," from Greek myrias (genitive myriados) "a number of ten thousand; countless numbers," from myrios (plural myrioi) "innume

Share cledonism

‘cite’

Page URL:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/cledonism

HTML Link:

<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/cledonism">Etymology of cledonism by etymonline</a>

APA style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of cledonism. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/cledonism

Chicago style:

Harper Douglas, “Etymology of cledonism,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/cledonism.

MLA style:

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of cledonism.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/cledonism. Accessed $(datetimeMla).

IEEE style:

D. Harper. “Etymology of cledonism.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/cledonism (accessed $(datetime)).

updated on September 28, 2017

Remove ads >

Dictionary entries near cledonism

cleat

cleavage

cleave

cleaver

clechy

cledonism

clef

cleft

clematis

clemency

clement