{"id":6676,"date":"2024-04-03T03:23:57","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T03:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/?p=6676"},"modified":"2024-04-03T03:25:54","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T03:25:54","slug":"word-of-the-day-divest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/2024\/04\/03\/word-of-the-day-divest\/","title":{"rendered":"Word of the Day: Divest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today\u2019s word of the day, courtesy of the Word Guru email (their word was divestiture<\/em>), is divest<\/em>. Divest is a verb that means to \u201cto strip of clothing, ornament, etc.,\u201d \u201cto strip or deprive (someone or something), especially of property or rights,\u201d \u201cto rid of or free from,\u201d \u201cto take away or alienate (property, rights, etc.)\u201d\u2014a definition related to the law, \u201cto sell off,\u201d or \u201cto rid of through sale\u201d (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/divest<\/a>). The last two definitions relate to business or commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word first appears in the language in the \u201c1560s, deves<\/em> <\/em>(modern spelling is c. 1600), \u2018strip of possessions,\u2019 from French devester<\/em> \u2018<\/em>strip of possessions\u2019 (Old French desvestir<\/em>), from des-<\/em> \u2018away\u2019 (see dis-<\/strong><\/a>) + vestir<\/em> \u2018<\/em>to clothe,\u2019 from Latin vestire<\/em> \u2018<\/em>to clothe\u2019 (from PIE *wes-<\/em> <\/em>(2) \u2018to clothe,\u2019 extended form of root *eu-<\/strong><\/a> \u2018to dress\u2019).
\u201cThe etymological sense of \u2018strip of clothes, arms, or equipage\u2019 is from 1580s. Meaning \u2018strip by some definite or legal process\u2019 is from 1570s. Economic sense \u2018sell off\u2019 (a subsidiary company, later an investment) is by 1961\u201d (https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/search?q=divest<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can probably see the English word vest<\/em> in divest<\/em>, and the etymology makes the link clear: *eu<\/em> is the \u201cProto-Indo-European root meaning \u2018to dress,\u2019 with extended form *wes-<\/em> (2) \u2018to clothe.\u2019
\u201cIt forms all or part of: divest<\/em><\/strong><\/a>; exuviae<\/strong><\/a>; invest<\/strong><\/a>; revetment<\/strong><\/a>; transvestite<\/strong><\/a>; travesty<\/strong><\/a>; vest<\/strong><\/a>; vestry<\/strong><\/a>; wear<\/strong><\/a>.
\u201cIt is the hypothetical source of\/evidence for its existence is provided by: Hittite washshush \u2018<\/em>garments,\u2019 washanzi \u2019<\/em>they dress;\u2019 Sanskrit vaste<\/em> \u2018he puts on,\u2019 vasanam<\/em> \u2018garment;\u2019 Avestan vah-<\/em>; Greek esthes \u2018<\/em>clothing,\u2019 hennymi \u2018<\/em>to clothe,\u2019 eima<\/em> \u2018garment;\u2019 Latin vestire \u2018<\/em>to clothe;\u2019 Welsh gwisgo<\/em>, Breton gwiska<\/em>; Old English werian \u2018<\/em>to clothe, put on, cover up,\u2019 w\u00e6stling \u2018<\/em>sheet, blanket\u2019\u201d (ibid.). Just FYI, exuviae<\/em> means \u201cthe cast skins, shells, or other coverings of animals\u201d (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/exuviae<\/a>). And revetment<\/em> means \u201ca facing of masonry or the like, especially for protecting an embankment\u201d or \u201can ornamental facing, as on a common masonry wall, of marble, face brick, tiles, etc.\u201d (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/revetment<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this date in 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey<\/em> premiered at the Uptown Theatre in Washington, D.C. It opened in New York the next day and in Los Angeles the following.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arthur C. Clarke, one of the great science fiction writers of the Golden Age of Science Fiction (per Robert Silverberg), along with Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein, and Philip K. Dick (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Golden_Age_of_Science_Fiction)<\/a>., published a short story in 1951 entitled \u201cThe Sentinel.\u201d It\u2019s a simple story: people find a pyramid type thing on the Moon, surrounded by a force field. It takes people 20 years to break through the force field, but the structure stays a mystery. The scientists come to believe that it was left there by aliens, and that is how the story ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarke later expressed contempt for the idea that 2001<\/em> was based the story, saying, \u201cI am continually annoyed by careless references to “The Sentinel” as “the story on which 2001<\/em> is based”; it bears about as much relation to the movie as an acorn to the resultant full-grown oak\u201d (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Sentinel_(short_story)<\/a>). But the story was the germ from which the movie grew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stanley Kubrick, who directed the film, was the one who came up with the idea for a realistic space travel film. He had already made a deal with a studio and had already planned where to do the filming. With the general idea, Kubrick went looking for a collaborator, someone with a science fiction background, and a friend recommended Clarke. Starting with \u201cThe Sentinel,\u201d Clarke and Kubrick added plot elements from others of Clarke\u2019s stories and added additional ideas. This was how they developed the script for 2001: A Space Odyssey<\/em>, although at the same time they were developing a novel. The collaboration was complex and at times difficult, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film\u2019s reception was somewhat mixed, and after the opening, Kubrick and his editor trimmed the film some. But it is a different kind of film, and people either love it or hate it. It takes advantage of classical music and long periods during which there is no dialogue. The visuals and the special effects are wonderful and occupied a lot of the director\u2019s time and effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie was nominated for four Academy Awards, and it won for Best Visual Effects. It was also nominated for other awards, and it won some.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey<\/em> when I was a kid. I found it fascinating though I probably didn\u2019t really understand it. Of course, I\u2019m not sure anybody really understood it. There have been many interpretations of various parts of the movie, the monolith, the \u201cStar Child,\u201d HAL, and other things. Even reading the novel, which came out shortly after the movie and which tried to be more explanatory, does solve all the riddles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the movie did well enough with audiences, for whatever reason, that it eventually became the highest grossing film of 1968 (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey#Design_and_special_effects<\/a>). It would have been a movie worth investing in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s image is of a poster for the original release of 2001: A Space Odyssey<\/em>. If you have never seen it, you should, though it loses something on a small screen and without surround sound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s word of the day, courtesy of the Word Guru email (their word was divestiture), is divest. Divest is a verb that means to \u201cto strip of clothing, ornament, etc.,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[652,330,238,651,395,328,284],"class_list":["post-6676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-of-the-day","tag-2001-a-space-odyssey-2","tag-arthur-c-clarke","tag-dictionary","tag-divest","tag-etymology","tag-kubrick","tag-linguistics","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6676"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6678,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6676\/revisions\/6678"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}