cxliii

Theme for this month: Inchoative verbs

cresco, crescere, crevi, cretum

Definition: to arise, appear, be born; to grow up, thrive, increase, multiply; to prosper, be promoted, rise in the world

Sententia: Congratulations to the Class of 2009! In honor of my fellow Class of '09 graduates:

Crescat scientia, vita excolatur.

Let knowledge thrive, let life be refined.

Consequently, this is the motto of the University of Chicago. This is perhaps not the most fitting graduation quote, but it does remind us that there is still learning to be done in the fall

And in honor of the new Star Trek movie: "Vive longe et cresce!"

Live long and prosper. [though the original has a ring to it lost in the Latin. Silly two syllable words]

"Cresco" is a rather common word, found in Catullus 64, Ovid's Amores 1.2 and other works, and Vergil's Aeneid Book 12. I have realized, too, that since Ovid/Catullus will never be tested again by the CollegeBoard--horribile scriptu!--from now on I will only note the bits of Vergil in which the words are located. Back to this week's word, which etymologically comes from a similarity to the Latin word "creo," meaning to be born, + "sco," the inchoative forming suffix. It is also the synonym of a far cooler Latin word, in my opinion, "augeo," which regretfully is not an inchoative, and thus cannot be used all this month.

Erratum: Last week, I had "ultimos dictata" instead of "ultima dictata," having failed to properly check over my sentence. Please forgive my error, and I will try (though I can't guarantee anything) to review my Latin more carefully.