Editor's Corner

Happy Friday!

I want to thank all of you who have entered the photo contest. I will let you know who the two winners are next week (in case I get any other submissions today) and I’ll start sharing all of the entries with you. Good luck to all of you participants!

Now, as I promised yesterday, I have some articles and information to share with you about the influence of the Greek language on English. Today’s article is about the suffix –gamy. This suffix is derived from the Greek words for husband, wife, and marry, and it translates as “something to do with marriage or reproduction.” Unfortunately, in modern Greek, there is a form of the word that also equates to our “F word,” so be careful before you start repeating what you hear from your Greek friends!

From an article in Daily Writing Tips, here are your marriage-related words involving the Greek suffix –gamy.

· bigamy: marriage with a second wife or husband when already married. Bigamy became a criminal offense in England and Wales in 1640, and a federal offense in the United States in 1862.

· deuterogamy: marriage a second time; marriage after the death of a first husband or wife.

· digamy: another word for deuterogamy.

· endogamy: (anthropology) The custom of marrying only within the limits of a clan or tribe.

· exogamy: (anthropology) The custom by which a man is bound to take a wife outside his own clan or group.

· hypergamy: marriage with a partner of higher social standing.

· homogamy: marriage between partners of equal social status.

· hypogamy: marriage of a woman into a lower caste or into a tribe of lower standing than her own.

· misogamy: hatred of or opposition to marriage.

· monogamy: The condition, rule, or custom of being married to only one person at a time. Once it meant not remarrying after the death of a first spouse.

· pantagamy: A communal system of marriage in which all the men and women of a household or community are regarded as married to each other.

· polygamy: The practice or custom of having more than one spouse at the same time.

· octogamy: Marriage with eight spouses (successively or at the same time). Even the much-married Wife of Bath had only five husbands, but several modern celebrities have achieved the status of octogamist.

Mykonos at Sunset

Kara Church

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