Ventriloquist

#etymology #prefix Published: 2021-11-04

The Latin word “loquor” means “I speak”. As you may have noticed, this word has many English descendants. Most of them are composed with specific prefixes and make perfect sense, so let’s take a closer look at these words.

eloquent, elocution

These words are related to “speaking out” because the prefix “e” here is “ex-“¹², meaning “out”. One of the most common words is “eloquent”, which means “to exercise the power of fluent, forcible, and appropriate expression”. The “q” part can also be “c”, as you see it in words like elocution, which means “the art of public speaking”.

obloquy

The prefix “ob-“ means “against or in front of”³. This makes obloquy⁴ mean “verbal abuse directed against a person or thing”.

grandiloquent

Grandiloquent means “characterized by an extravagant manner of language”.

colloquy

The “col” part means “together”, so this means “a talking together”, or simply, “a conversation”. Colloquial is more commonly used and means “conversational”.

ventriloquist

A ventriloquist is “someone who entertains people by speaking without moving their lips”. The “ventri” part derives from the Latin word “venter”, which means “belly”. This is totally understandable, especially for Japanese people, since we have the corresponding Japanese word for ventriloquism, 腹話術, whose 腹 means a belly.

soliloquy

The “sol” part means “alone”, so soliloquy means “speaking alone” or “a speech in a play that a character speaks to oneself” (in Japanese, 独り言 and 独白, respectively).

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