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Purdonium
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:33 am
by Grogie
I accidentally put this word in the ''Welcome Home'' section. My apologies. In Britain, it referred to a decorative metal box where coal was stored for use. ''He had to get some more coal out of the purdonium because the fire was starting to die away.''
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 11:27 am
by LukeJavan8
Good word: new one to me.
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:23 pm
by Philip Hudson
Grogie: I also replied in the ''Welcome Home'' section. Also my bad. Here is my reply in the appropriate section.
Purdonium could be the name of a radioactive element, but it isn't. It's terse, one-generation etymology is that it was named for a Mr. Purdon, who otherwise seems to be unknown.
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:03 pm
by LukeJavan8
It must be nice to be an 'unknown' and have a word
named after you. I could use Javan and be
"Javanistic", yet I don't know what it could mean.
Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 7:02 pm
by Philip Hudson
I understated the case when I said purdonium had a one-generation etymology. Purdon is the name of a man. That is a one-generation etymology. What is the source of the suffix “ium”. I understand it as "pertaining to" or "producing". Several chemical elements end in “ium”. So do musical instruments: harmonium and euphonium. Palladium, not the chemical element, is an entertainment venue. I have read that the suffix is English, but that is not very helpful. Does or did it have an independent meaning? Whoever gives me the straight skinny on this gets a free turkey dinner. My slang dates me doesn’t it?
Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:20 pm
by LukeJavan8
You're among compatriots.
Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:39 pm
by Slava
What is the source of the suffix “ium”.
a suffix found on nouns borrowed from Latin, especially derivatives of verbs (odium; tedium; colloquium; delirium), deverbal compounds with the initial element denoting the object of the verb (nasturtium), other types of compounds (equilibrium; millennium), and derivatives of personal nouns, often denoting the associated status or office (collegium; consortium; magisterium); -ium also occurs in scientific coinages on a Latin model, as in names of metallic elements (barium; titanium) and as a Latinization of Gk -ion (pericardium).
Origin:
< Neo-Latin, Latin, neuter suffix
The Greek -ion is a diminutive ending.
As purdonium comes from someone's name, doesn't that make it an eponym? Or is an eponym only if it is just the name, without additions?