Today we celebrate the birthday of T.S. Eliot, who some have called the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Best known for The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and The Waste Land, Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Love Song features the stream of consciousness thoughts of Mr. Prufrock and drew heavily from Dante, Shakespeare and others.
Minatory (“min-uh-tor-ee”)
Adjective; from Dictionary.com:
1. Menacing, threatening
2. Expressing a threat
“Did I ask you what I should have for breakfast?” she snapped. The baker gave her a minatory look. What, were they best friends? Great. (The Chocolate Thief, Laura Florand)
Minatory, a word originating in the 1530′s, comes into English from Latin, specifically the Latin words minatorius and it’s stem word, minat-, meaning “to threaten.” Minatory shares these root words with the noun menace as they both share the same meaning. Something minatory is threatening and, if you’re smart, probably scary as well. Though similar-sounding but without any shared roots, I always think of the Minotaur when I hear the word minatory. A half-man, half-bull creature that tries to kill those who enter the labyrinth? Threatening indeed.
Your turn, bookworms – which fictional characters would you consider truly minatory?
[Photo Credit: Google Images]
