| Learning new words is a good exercise. We, at | | | | always be prepared for war and evolved to be |
| have discussed various interesting and fruitful | | | | extremely battle-ready, disciplined, tough and |
| ways to learn new words. In this article, Sidharth | | | | austere in their lifestyle. |
| Balakrishna, CAT expert, author and IIM Calcutta | | | | The word ‘Spartan' thus means ‘austere', |
| alumnus will discuss how to improve your | | | | plain, frugal. |
| vocabulary through knowing interesting stories of | | | | Laconic: This is another word which has come up |
| their origin. "Very often, you may find that you | | | | from the name of a place, ‘Laconia'. The |
| remember the story more than the meaning per | | | | inhabitants of this place were known to speak |
| se-and that it is the story that helps you recall | | | | very little. |
| the meaning of the word," says Balakrishna. | | | | The word ‘Laconic' therefore refers to one |
| It can be observed that Greek mythology has a | | | | who uses few words, is concise and doesn't |
| huge role in the origin of several words. | | | | speak much. Synonyms are taciturn, pithy, terse; |
| Balakrishna has shared such words and their | | | | antonyms are garrulous, verbose, loquacious etc. |
| interesting stories of origin. | | | | There is a famous example of the usage of this |
| Promethean: This word comes from the Greek | | | | word. Philip of Macedon was supposed to have |
| hero ‘Prometheus'. Prometheus, a great hero | | | | once written to the Spartans "If I enter Laconia, I |
| of mankind, is supposed to have stolen fire from | | | | will level Lacedaemon to the ground ". The |
| the Gods and brought it for mankind's use. Fire | | | | Spartans, true to their style, chose to reply with |
| was clearly of vital importance to ancient man. | | | | a single word "If". |
| Hence the word ‘Promethean' means | | | | Stentorian: It comes from the name of a person. |
| ‘life-giving', creative, original. | | | | In Greek mythology, Stentor was a herald of the |
| The famous story of Prometheus can be found in | | | | Greek armies. Being a herald, Stentor had an |
| the Greek tragedy called Prometheus Bound. In | | | | extremely loud voice. Hence the meaning of the |
| this drama, Prometheus' theft of fire and his | | | | word: ‘Stentorian' means loud, booming etc. |
| punishment by Zeus are described. | | | | You will find many such words which have their |
| Spartan: Sparta was a Greek city-state in ancient | | | | origins from mythology. will come up with such |
| times. It was always at war with Athens, another | | | | other words in our following articles. |
| city-state (and today's capital of Greece), where | | | | Stay tuned to for more on CAT 2010 |
| the famous Parthenon is situated. | | | | preparation. |
| As a result, the inhabitants of Sparta had to | | | | |