Sunday, March 1, 2009

Peace

This past Thursday I went to the Invisible Children event, and since then the situation in Uganda has been at the front of my mind. Since peace is something that it seems we so rarely have and so often strive for, I thought it would be interesting to see where a word that holds such a large idea and emotional weight for so many gets its roots.
The AHD defines Peace as, "The absence of war or other hostilities" and "An agreement or a treaty to end hostilities... inner contentment; serenity." This word comes from Latin pax, through Old French and Middle English. The Latin word PAX can mean, "A time of wide-ranging stability when there is only a single dominate power." PAX is also used more broadly for any "peace."


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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 2, 2009 at 8:50 AM

    PAX is my favorite TV channel because it shows Touched by an Angel reruns.

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  2. RRApril 12, 2009 at 7:16 PM

    There is the phrase "Pax Romana" which refers to the time when the Roman empire was (relatively) peaceful under the (sole) power of Rome, but the Latin word pax more generally means "tranquility." It doesn't have the specific meaning of calmness under a single power.

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