This whole month I’ve taken a look at words named after someone: January mausoleum Fortean Joining the ranks is mesmerize. Like mausoleum, we no longer capitalize mesmerize, despite its being named after the Austrian physician Franz Anton Mesmer. He theorized “animal magnetism,” which he thought was the force that passes between two people or inanimate…
Tag: mausoleum
Otherworldly Words: Mausoleum
This month, I’m exploring words named after people. I started with January. Today the mausoleum is thought of as a repository for our lost loved ones and part of what make historic cemeteries beautiful, peaceful places of quietude. Originally, however, the word had a very specific meaning as the tomb of Mausolus, king of Caria, who ruled part of…
Otherworldly Words: Phantasmagoria
A phantasmagoria is, in many ways, most people’s nightmare and a surrealist’s dream. Just think about the surrealist, eye-ball slicing film Un Chien Andalou. Personally, I think anything horrific or unbelievable is a phantasmagoria. Haunted houses attempt this effect commonplace during the Victorian era with the assistance of magic lanterns. If you find magic lanterns…
Otherworldly Words: Nefarious
To my ear, nefarious is one of those words that sounds like what it means. Just saying, “nefarious plans” sounds pretty evil. The sound of the word isn’t the only reason I’m including it, however. The second part of the meaning, iniquitous, says so much about the crux of being “wicked” or “villainous.” The deeper…
Otherworldly Words: Necropolis
A necropolis is a final resting place for the bodies of those who have passed. As I discussed in mausoleum and charnel house, where to place the dead changes across time and culture. Such places hold deep meaning, and some become a pilgrimage. Droves of fans visit the graves of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and other icons. The…
Otherworldly Words: Mausoleum
Cemeteries across the world hold centerpieces. Many are family or community mausoleums. These repositories for our lost loved ones are part of what make historic cemeteries beautiful, peaceful places of quietude. I think that’s fitting. As we visit the ones we lost, we can escape the hectic pace of our lives, if even for just a…
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