The history of the word cardinal in English is rather interesting. It comes from the Latin cardinalis, meaning “chief, principal.” But it first came over to English not as an adjective with that meaning, but as the noun–as in, the order in the Church. Since the 12th century, we’ve had the word cardinal as an “ecclesiastical prince who constitutes the sacred college.”

So when did the adjective join the fun? Not until the 14th century! I find it rather interesting that though taken from the Latin adjective, we didn’t adopt that adjective form for two hundred years. Because it means “principal, pivotal, something on which things hinge,” it has occasionally been applied to literal hinges. But what know it more for is its uses in things like cardinal numbers (whole numbers, the ones on which others rely) like one, two, three, twenty, etc (1590s); the cardinal points or directions–north, south, east, west (1540s); and cardinal sins (1600s). Did you know there are also cardinal virtues? They date from the 1300s and include justice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude, and then adding in faith, hope, and charity.

The bird we’ve called the cardinal is so named because its bright red feathers are reminiscent of the bright red robes of the cardinals in the Church.

Did you know that the most-used definition of problematic–namely, “constituting or causing difficulty”–only dates from around the 1960s?? I didn’t! But as it turns out, that use is directly taken from a word coined for use in sociology. So what, you may ask, did the word mean before that?

Well, rather than insinuating “difficulty,” problematic used to mean something was in need of discussion. It has meant “doubtful, uncertain, unsettled” since the 1600s. It is in fact from the Greek word problema, which literally means “to put forward” [for discussion]. Hence math problems, which aren’t difficult necessarily (don’t argue with me, LOL– 2 + 2 is a problem), but are in need of solution.

So there we have it! We shouldn’t use problematic unless we could replace it with “uncertain.”

Unlike mercurial of last week, martial is a word I use plenty–I imagine we all do. And I even knew where this one came from, LOL.

Martial means “warlike; pertaining to war” and for good reason–it comes from the Roman god Mars, the god of war. What I didn’t realize was that much like jovial and mercurial, this word wasn’t developed as a general adjective for those like Mars, it was an astrological term, given to those born under the sign of Mars, who were thought to have spirits more prone to fighting and exhibiting qualities of a warrior.

Martial arts, as a term to describe the fighting techniques of Japan and the surrounding areas, was coined in 1909.

Ready for the next installment of our “adjectives from mythology” series? Today we’re taking a look at a word I honestly don’t use very often. In fact, if one of my kids were to ask, “What does mercurial mean?” I probably would have given them a look and said, “Why don’t you look it up?” Ahem. 😉

But when I look at the etymology of the word, it’s no wonder that it means what it does. You see, the Roman god Mercury (equivalent to the Greek Hermes) is the messenger god–the one who dashes hither and yon at high speeds.

Much like Jupiter/Jove, Mercury’s name was given to one of the first planets identified in the heavens, the one closest to the sun–perhaps because it’s orbit around the sun is so quick.

Well, much like jovial actually comes from an astrological term, mercurial does too. It means “swift and clever,” qualities associated with the god Mercury and thought to be more common in those born under the sign of the planet.

Is this a word you use very often? I’m going to make it a point to use it more–it’s a fun one! (Not that I have the “swift” part of its meaning, personally, LOL.)

For the next couple weeks, I’m going to do a little mini-series on some adjectives we have that are based on the names of ancient mythological gods. As I was reading through a list of some of these, I found it so fascinating!

So we’ll start off with Zeus. Now, I know what you’re thinking–I don’t know of any words with Zeus as the root! Which is true…sort of. Zeus was his Greek name, but English is derived far more from Latin than Greek. And what was Zeus’s Latin name?

Jupiter…also known as Jove.

By jove! Now we’re on to something! 😉

Of course, when you hear Jupiter, your first thought is the planet, right? Well, interestingly enough, that’s actually where this word of the week comes from. Jupiter was given as a name not just to any planet–it was given to the BIGGEST planet. And when people were born “under the sign of Jupiter” (astology has its roots waaaaaaaaaay back in time), they were thought to be of a more cheerful disposition than the rest of us. And so came the word jovial ~ literally “pertaining to or under the influence of Jove,” by which they mean the planet of Jupiter.