{"id":7356,"date":"2026-05-22T00:39:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T00:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/?p=7356"},"modified":"2026-05-22T00:41:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T00:41:04","slug":"word-of-the-day-comity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/2026\/05\/22\/word-of-the-day-comity\/","title":{"rendered":"Word of the Day: Comity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today\u2019s word of the day, courtesy of the Words Coach (https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/dictionary<\/a>), is comity<\/em>. Pronounced \/ \u02c8k\u0252m \u026a ti \/, it means \u201cmutual courtesy; civility\u201d (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/comity<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merriam-Webster has more options: \u201cfriendly social atmosphere : social harmony,\u201d \u201ca loose widespread community based on common social institutions,\u201d \u201cthe informal and voluntary recognition by courts of one jurisdiction of the laws and judicial decisions of another,\u201d or \u201cavoidance of proselytizing members of another religious denomination\u201d (https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/comity<\/a>). The in the Did You Know section, it says, \u201c\u2019Our country soweth also in the field of our breasts many precious seeds, as \u2026 honest behavior, affability, comity,\u2019 wrote English clergyman Thomas Becon in 1543. Becon’s use is an early documented appearance of comity<\/em>\u2014a word derived from Latin c\u014dmit\u0101s,<\/em> meaning \u2018friendliness, courtesy, or graciousness.\u2019 Comity<\/em> is largely used in political and judicial contexts. Since 1804, comity of nations<\/em> has referred to countries bound by a courteous relationship based on mutual recognition of executive, legislative, and judicial acts. And, in legal contexts, comity<\/em> refers to the recognition by courts of one jurisdiction of the laws and judicial decisions of another\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word first appears in English in the \u201cearly 15c., \u2018association,\u2019 from French comit\u00e9<\/em>, from Latin comitas<\/em> \u2018courtesy, friendliness, kindness, affability,\u2019 from comis<\/em> \u2018courteous, friendly, kind,\u2019 perhaps from PIE *ko(m)smi-<\/em>, literally \u2018smiling with,\u2019 from *kom-<\/em> \u2018together\u2019 + root *smei-<\/em> \u2018to laugh, smile\u2019 (see smile<\/strong> (v.)).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meaning \u2018courtesy, civility\u2019 in English is from 1540s. Phrase comity of nations<\/em><\/strong> attested from 1812: \u2018The obligation recognized by civilized nations to respect each other’s laws and usages as far as their separate interests allow\u2019\u201d (https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/search?q=comity<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this date in 1864, \u201cRussia declares an end to the Russo-Circassian War, forcing many Circassians into exile, commemorated today as the Circassian Day of Mourning\u201d (https:\/\/www.onthisday.com\/events\/may\/21<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have to admit that, until today, I had never heard of Circassia. Apparently it was \u201ca country and a historical region in Eastern Europe. It spanned the western coastal portions of the North Caucasus, along the northeastern shore of the Black Sea\u201d (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Circassia<\/a>). \u201cLegally and internationally, the Treaty of Belgrade, which was signed between Austria and the Ottoman Empire in 1739, provided for the recognition of the independence of Eastern Circassia. Both the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire recognized it under witness from the other great powers of the time. The Congress of Vienna also stipulated the recognition of the independence of Circassia. In 1837, Circassian leaders sent letters to a number of European states requesting diplomatic recognition. Following this, the United Kingdom recognized Circassia. However, following the outbreak of the Russo-Circassian War, the Russian Empire did not recognize Circassia as an independent nation and instead treated it as Russian land under rebel occupation, despite having no control or ownership over the region. Russian generals often referred to the Circassians as “mountaineers”, “bandits”, and “mountain scum” rather than by their ethnonym (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCircassians themselves don’t use the term \u2018Circassia\u2019, and refer to their country as \u0410\u0434\u044b\u0433\u044d \u0425\u044d\u043a\u0443 (Ad\u0131g\u0259 X\u0259ku) or \u0410\u0434\u044b\u0433\u0435\u0439 (Ad\u0131gey).
\u201cAnother historical name for the country was Zichia (or Zyx; the tribe living there was called Zygii), who was described by the ancient Greek intellectual Strabo as a nation to the north of Colchis\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery year on May 21st, Circassians all over the world mark the Day of Mourning and Remembrance for the Circassian Genocide. In the Circassian homeland in the Caucasus, in the Republic of Adygea, in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, in the Republic of Karachay-Circassia, this day is marked with conferences and processions with the participation of the governments of the republics. In the Krasnodar Territory – in the city of Krasnodar and in the Shapsug region on the Black Sea coast, as well as in the Stavropol Territory, Circassian organizations there also mark this day with conferences and processions.
\u201cIn the Circassian diaspora in Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, European countries, the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries of the world, this day is also marked with conferences and processions of mourning and remembrance\u201d (http:\/\/www.adyglife.com\/2026\/05\/may-21st-circassian-nation-mark-day-of.html<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMay 21 marks the end of the Russo-Caucasian War of 1763-1864, following which 90 percent of the Circassian people were expelled from their historical homeland of Circassia into the Ottoman Empire. According to various historians, before the conquest of Circassia by the Russian Empire, over 2 million people lived in Circassia. After the conquest, less than 50,000 people remained in their homeland. The Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria recognized the Circassian genocide in 1992. The Republic of Adygea recognized it in 1996. Georgia in 2011 and Ukraine in 2025 officially recognized the Circassian genocide” (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder if Ukraine recognized the Circassian genocide because of what has been happening to them, at the hands of Russia, in the last few years. In any case, I feel kind of bad for the Circassian or Adyghe people. I do not understand why some people feel the need to conquer other people. If there really were such a thing as the comity of nations, people would leave other people alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s image is of \u201c\u0413\u043e\u0440\u0430 \u0424\u0438\u0448\u0442. \u041a\u0430\u0432\u043a\u0430\u0437\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u0433\u043e\u0441\u0443\u0434\u0430\u0440\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u043f\u0440\u0438\u0440\u043e\u0434\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0431\u0438\u043e\u0441\u0444\u0435\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0437\u0430\u043f\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0434\u043d\u0438\u043a, \u0437\u0430\u043f\u0430\u0434\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u043e\u0442\u0434\u0435\u043b\u201d (\u201cMount Fisht. Caucasian State Nature Biosphere Reserve, Western Section\u201d), a photo by Sergei Kazantsev (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Adygea#\/media\/File:%D0%A4%D0%B8%D1%88%D1%822.jpg<\/a>). Perhaps the Adyghe say, \u201cNext year in Matrega.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s word of the day, courtesy of the Words Coach (https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/dictionary), is comity. Pronounced \/ \u02c8k\u0252m \u026a ti \/, it means \u201cmutual courtesy; civility\u201d (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/comity). Merriam-Webster has more options: \u201cfriendly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[997,996,238,395,284],"class_list":["post-7356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-of-the-day","tag-circassia","tag-comity","tag-dictionary","tag-etymology","tag-linguistics","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7356","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=7356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7358,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7356\/revisions\/7358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}