Page 397 - Word Power Made Easy: The Complete Handbook for Building a Superior Vocabulary

SESSION 31

ORIGINS AND RELATED WORDS

1. no reverence

Th e iconoclast sneers at convention and tradition, attempts to expose our cherished
beliefs, our revered traditions, or our stereotypical thinking as shams and myths. H. L.
Mencken was the great iconoclast of the 1920s; Tom Wolfe (The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-
Flake Streamline Baby), of the 1960s.
Adolescence is that confused and rebellious time of life in which iconoclasm (ī-KON′-Ə-

klaz′-Əm) is quite normal—indeed the adolescent who is not iconoclastic (ī-kon′-Ə-KLAST′-ik)
to some degree might be considered either immature or maladjusted. The words are from
eikon, a religious image, plus klaein, to break. Iconoclasm is not of course restricted to

religion.

2. is there a God?

Atheist combines the Greek negative pre x a- with theos, God. Do not confuse atheism
(AY′-thee-iz-Əm) with agnosticism (ag-NOS′-tƏ-siz-Əm), the philosophy that claims that God is

unknowable, that He may or may not exist, and that human beings can never come to a
nal conclusion about Him. The agnostic (ag-NOS′-tik) does not deny the existence of a
deity, as does the atheist, but simply holds that no proof can be adduced one way or the
other.

3. how to know

Agnostic (which is also an adjective) is built on the Greek root gnostos, known, and the
negative pre x a-. An agnostic claims that all but material phenomena is unknown, and,
indeed, unknowable.
A diagnosis (dī-Əg-NŌ′-sis), constructed on the allied Greek root gnosis, knowledge, plus

dia-, through, is a knowing through examination or testing. A prognosis (prog-NŌ′-sis), on
the other hand, is etymologically a knowing beforehand, hence a prediction, generally, but
not solely, as to the course of a disease. (The Greek prefix pro-, before, plus gnosis.)
Thus, you may say to a doctor: “What’s the diagnosis, Doc?”
“Diabetes.”

Then you say, “And what’s the prognosis?”
“If you take insulin and watch your diet, you’ll soon be as good as new.”
The doctor’s prognosis, then, is a forecast of the development or trend of a disease. The
doctor knows beforehand, from previous similar cases, what to expect.