Eucharist

Eucharist (n.): a spiritual communion with God; the Catholic Sacrament in which bread and wine are changed  into the Body and Blood of Christ.

Eucharist comes from the Greek eucharistein, meaning "to give thanks." This is because the Eucharist is one of the greatest ways of giving thanks to God.

Bibliography

       Rev. Socias, James. Introduction to Catholicism: A Complete Course. Woodridge, Illinois: Midwest Theological Forum, 2011.

Orthodox

Orthodox (adjective): conforming to established doctrine, especially in religion.

Orthodox comes from the Greek orthos, "straight," and the Latin doceo, "to teach." Orthodox is "straight teaching," the accepted opinion. This term is also used in "Eastern Orthodox" and "Orthodox Judaism," denoting a specific religion.

Bibliography

Rev. Socias, James. Introduction to Catholicism: A Complete Course. Woodridge, Illinois: Midwest Theological Forum, 2011.

Flamingo

Flamingo: any of several large aquatic birds (family Phoenicopteridae) with long legs and neck, a broad lamellate bill resembling that of a duck but abruptly bent downwards, and usually rosy-white plumage with scarlet wing coverts and black wing quills.

Flamingo comes from the Latin word flamma, which means "fire," and the obsolete Spanish word flamengo meaning "German." Germans were generally thought to be ruddy-complexioned. Both of these words are used in "flamingo" because of the flamingo's coloring.

Orangutan

Orangutan: a largely herbivorous anthropoid ape (Pongo pygmaeus) of Borneo and Sumatra that is about 2/3 the size of a gorilla and has brown skin, long, sparse, reddish-brown hair, and very long arms.

Orangutan comes from the Malay words orang, meaning "person," and utan, "forest." Orangutan then means "person of the forest." The Malay people named orangutans this because they thought that orangutans were people. They do look remarkably similar to us.

Welcome!

Welcome to The Origin of Words, my newest blog! My name is Marty. On this blog, I will be posting interesting vocabulary words with their origins (some just for the origins!). Have fun! Note: the dictionary I use is Merriam-Webster Online.