Figured I’d jump on the eclipse bandwagon today and talk about a part of it I haven’t seen anyone else mention–the word itself! 😉
Eclipse has been in English since around 1300 (since, you know, there was English), taken from French, which was taken from Latin, which is taken from Greek, all sounding like the original ekleipsis. But what did that original word assigned to the phenomena mean?
Quite literally, it means “an abandonment, a failing, a forsaking.” Ek is “out” and leipein is “to leave.” So when something abandoned its spot and went out, much like the sun and moon sometimes appear to do . . . there you go!
Are you planning on (safely) viewing the eclipse today? It’s our first day of school, and we figured that was a pretty sweet science lesson for day 1. =) We bought eclipse glasses for the family last year when we were studying our astronomy unit and will be breaking those out today for sure!
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.
Hi, Roseanna. I agree– it's a great lesson! We decided to watch on TV and maybe step outside but not look up! We are near totality but don't want to fight the traffic. Blessings