• eclipse •
Pronunciation: ee-klips • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun, verb
Meaning: 1. (Noun) The obscuration of one celestial body by another. 2. (Noun) The state of being eclipsed. 3. (Verb) To cause someone's downfall, undoing, fall into obscurity. 4. (Verb) The action implied by any of the above.
Notes: This word can't make up its mind as to whether it wants to be a noun or verb. The adjective is ecliptic or ecliptical and the adverb, ecliptically. An eclipser is someone that eclipses, obscures—or outshines someone else. We may be eclipsable or uneclipsable.
In Play: An eclipse of the sun or moon is usually how this word is used: "The eclipse of the moon occurred exactly at the moment William Arami asked June McBride to marry him." However, the verb is as often used figuratively: "When Matilda put blond dye in Harold's hair tonic bottle, her prank eclipsed all those played on her by him."
Word History: Today's Good Word is loot from yet another raid on Old French, which it inherited from its great grandfather, Latin eclipsis, stolen from Greek ekleipsis "eclipse, an abandonment", originally "a failing, forsaking", from ekleipein "to forsake, fail to appear". Greek created its word by combining ex "out (of)" + leipein "to leave", inherited from PIE leikw- "to leave", source also of Sanskrit (the language which changed all Ls to Rs) rinakti "lets go, concedes" and ricyate "is freed from, goes away", Greek leipein "to leave, desert, fail", Latin linquere "to leave", Irish lig "let, allow, permit", Lithuanian likti "to stay, remain", Latvian palikt "to remain", and English leave. (Now a standing e-ovation to Great Grand Panjandrum Jeremy Busch for recommending today's celestial Good Word.)
