Monday, January 09, 2006

Re-Ligare

Can anyone help me find a patristic source for the etymology of the word religion? or any ancient source? I hear it is an augustinian thing, but...if anyone else has any ideas, that would be great. thanks.

16 comments:

Enthymemosis said...

It's an Augustinian thing, eh? Hm. The little bit of research I just did shows there's a variety of views on exactly where the word "religion" comes from.

According to good old Wikipedia it could come from:

re-reading--from Latin re (again) + legio (read), referring to the repetition of scripture.

treating carefully--from Latin relegere (Cicero's interpretation)

re-connection to the divine--from Latin re (again) + ligare (to connect, as in English ligament). This interpretation is favoured by modern scholars such as Tom Harpur, but probably originated with St. Augustine.

to bind or return to bondage--an alternate interpretation of the "reconnection" etymology, possibly also originating with Augustine but emphasising a sense of servitude to God. However, the bondage interpretation, while popular with critics of religion, is often considered imprecise and possibly offensive in many modern religious contexts.

concerning a gathering--from Latin ablative res (with regard to) + legere (to gather). More emphatically, religion concerns an organization.

What prompted the question?

biss said...

Nerds.

biss said...

I love you, too, Kai.
I am about to telephone your wife concerning the food she makes. Ring ring.

Stacy said...

Biss,

I'm seriously sitting here giggling!!

And I seriously can't stop. How funny!

biss said...

What? What's so funny? I do love him, and his wife makes a mean moose dish, among everything else she makes.

biss said...

and they are nerds!

Mr. P said...

thanks y'all, I appreciate your help.

Enthymemosis said...

I take it as a high honour to be graced with the term "nerd." And for those who resent the monicker "nerd," just think of it as you would olives - it's an acquired taste.

Mr. P said...

I too do not wince at such a referent, it bestows upon the bearer an air of...something, I know not what.

biss said...

Thanks, Sir John.

Jenny said...

THis reminds me of a t-shirt I heard about that said "talk nerdy to me"

Tee heeeeee.

Never mind 'religion' -- where does the word /nerd/ come from!?

Nerd nerd
Nerd is the word

biss said...

Mmmm...I like to eat nerds.

My word verification says: ggqgyj. It looks funny.

Brook Jones said...

I believe "nerd" was first coined by Dr. Seuss.

(ps. for the record, i'm a friend of our dear mr. pasivirta, who directed me to this blog)

Brook Jones said...

Yes, it's true -- wikipedia will back me up.

Dr. Seuss' "If I Ran the Zoo", c. 1950

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerd

biss said...

You're coming to Ottawa next January, Kai???
HOORAY!
Bring your wife.

(For those who don't know yet, my birthday will be celebrated on June 18th. Mark your calandars now.)

thomasw said...

ah very well thought out kai...but if you want to impress me you'll have to use this noun in the form of a verb in the ablative case and make it have a haunting mood :)

i just giggle thinking of conjugating 'to nerd' in latin, sanskrit or greek. it is right up there with what happened to the English noun 'party' about a decade ago or so. Now even highly intelligent humans don't hesistate to use it as a verb. hehe