Volume 15, Number 3 · August 13, 1970
Up from Ultraism
By Jorge Luis Borges
Owing to unpredictable changes in the original meanings of words down through time, few disciplines are of greater interest than etymology. Given such changes, which in many cases touch on the paradoxical, the root of a word will prove of little or no use in understanding an idea. Knowing, for example, that 'calculus,' in Latin, means a small stone, and that followers of Pythagoras used such stones before numbers were invented, may not help us unravel the mysteries of algebra; knowing that 'hypocrite' meant actor, and 'person' a mask, is hardly a sufficient instrument for the study of psychology or ethics. Similarly, to pin down what we mean today by the word 'classic,' it is of little value to know that the word comes to us from the Latin 'classis,' a fleet, which was in time to take on the meaning 'order.' (Let us remind ourselves, by the way, of the analogous meaning of 'shipshape.')
Feature, 2965 words
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