So this should be a pretty simple one, right? But that's what I always think. It's just that I was listening to some news program and hear either the word moderate--mod-ur-rate--or the word moderate--mod-ur-rut, and realized that I really didn't know what the two had to do with each other.
To moderate is to sort of preside over a panel or a forum or a debate--maybe even a game show. To be moderate, though, is to keep a steady course between extremes. I can see how a moderator might be the one that keeps people on track, though I doubt, given our political discourse, that one could make anyone more moderate simply by being there. Well, maybe he or she can keep people from throwing chairs...
Anyway, I got interested in the two definitions of what must be a common word. Is a moderator a mode operator? I'm ready to find out.
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"Moderate" is a weather word originally. From the late 14th century, it related to weather and other physical conditions. It comes out of the Latin moderatus, which was all about keeping things "within bounds". It's related to another Latin word, "modus", or measure. So, everything measured, restrained, sensible.
As the Online Etymology Dictionary has it: "In English, of persons from early 15c.; of opinions from 1640s; of prices from 1904."
"Moderator", however, comes to us straight from the Latin, where it meant something like manager, ruler or director--one who imposes a limit. The sense of the English word came to mean also "one who acts an umpire" in the 1560s. You can see how the idea of running something could with time come to mean mediating between factions as well.
"Moderatrix" for the feminine version is attested from 1530. Sounds a bit kinky to the modern ear, but I think probably shows that the position of women was relatively good back in England of the 16th century.
These tiles represent "Natura moderatrix optima" and reside at the Convento de São Francisco, Pelourinho, Salvador, Bahía, Brasil. The photo was taken by "Draken". You can seem more of them on Panoramio. I wasn't able to discover more about what the story the tiles are illustrating is, though.
To moderate is to sort of preside over a panel or a forum or a debate--maybe even a game show. To be moderate, though, is to keep a steady course between extremes. I can see how a moderator might be the one that keeps people on track, though I doubt, given our political discourse, that one could make anyone more moderate simply by being there. Well, maybe he or she can keep people from throwing chairs...
Anyway, I got interested in the two definitions of what must be a common word. Is a moderator a mode operator? I'm ready to find out.
***
 |
| A moderate day in Santa Cruz |
"Moderate" is a weather word originally. From the late 14th century, it related to weather and other physical conditions. It comes out of the Latin moderatus, which was all about keeping things "within bounds". It's related to another Latin word, "modus", or measure. So, everything measured, restrained, sensible.
As the Online Etymology Dictionary has it: "In English, of persons from early 15c.; of opinions from 1640s; of prices from 1904."
"Moderator", however, comes to us straight from the Latin, where it meant something like manager, ruler or director--one who imposes a limit. The sense of the English word came to mean also "one who acts an umpire" in the 1560s. You can see how the idea of running something could with time come to mean mediating between factions as well.
"Moderatrix" for the feminine version is attested from 1530. Sounds a bit kinky to the modern ear, but I think probably shows that the position of women was relatively good back in England of the 16th century.
These tiles represent "Natura moderatrix optima" and reside at the Convento de São Francisco, Pelourinho, Salvador, Bahía, Brasil. The photo was taken by "Draken". You can seem more of them on Panoramio. I wasn't able to discover more about what the story the tiles are illustrating is, though.
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