I think everyone will agree with me when I say that words have personalities. Sure, you can look up the definition of a word in a dictionary, but that is akin to defining a person solely by their occupation. Imagine a world where a majority of human beings are defined simply as “morosely perform desk jobs to fund annual vacations” - no reference to their hobbies, passions, likes, dislikes, and so on. It is the same with words. Their dictionary meanings are only one facet of their personalities, but they are so much more than that.
Staying with that thought, I have also found that there are certain words which seem to share a natural familial bond. Not in the etymological or phonetic sense, but in terms of having an ineffable connection, based on who they are.
Image Credit: https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/addams-family.
For instance, consider the four siblings of the notable ‘Epi-’ family. Yes, they share some Greek ancestry and are etymologically related. But what truly makes them a family, despite their varied personalities, is the common thread or purpose that defines their existence.
A brief biography of the siblings (in order of their seniority) will help demonstrate this.
Epitaph: The eldest, who has carefully cultivated a sombre, goth rock look. Invariably dressed in grey, her preference for solitude makes it difficult for people to approach her. Often, people confronted by her stony silence find themselves to be completely unnerved. Labouring under the burden of having to maintain polite (if one-sided) conversation, they end up revealing more of themselves than they would care to. When she does speak however, she is surprisingly benevolent, and can even be profound. Her words give people succour, and for that we must be thankful.
Epigraph: His is a sunny disposition and he excels at breaking the ice in an awkward social gathering. He is given to making enigmatic statements merely to draw attention to himself. He also has a regrettable tendency of quoting Shakespeare and occasionally even stoops to reciting poetry - yet, there are people who chuckle at his words and so he does serve a purpose in the world.
Epigram: She is widely acknowledged to be the brains of the family. Given her reputation, she is often consulted by people seeking an answer to their moral conundrums. All who approach her are awed by her charm and intelligence. Unfortunately, she also has a somewhat twisted sense of humour and thrives on sarcasm. Once the glamour weaved by her words fades, people realise that her advice to them was actually quite a rude insult. But she is a clever one. In the fluff, she leaves just enough nuggets of genuine insight, to keep people coming back to her.
Epithet: The youngest of the lot and perhaps predictably, the most rambunctious. He is restless and given to grandiosity. Not for him the routine life of daily chores and ordinary existence; he craves the superlative, the dramatic, the fantastical. All nuance is lost on him and he sees things in absolutes. In short, he possesses all the traits of a successful social media troll. Thankfully, he has the ability to enliven the aspirations of people - that, even if somewhat hit and miss, is a worthy purpose.
I trust that the above biographies of the members of the ‘Epi-’ family have adequately demonstrated the point I sought to make. Each of them in their own way, let people experience an idea or an emotion, which transcends their ‘dictionary meanings’. I would think such a shared purpose, would make a good case for them to be considered a family.
Epilogue: A distant cousin who worships the four siblings, but is sadly snubbed by them. He has a terrible sense of timing - always appearing to accost people at the end of a long and tiring day, and then launching into a particularly boring monologue. It sounds a bit harsh, but to be perfectly honest, most people wish he didn’t exist.
Oh. Epigamia, the gamine weight watcher.
My apologies :)
Epiphany, the flamboyant cousin, and EpiPen the boring doctor uncle?