Fwd: "accidie, n." - Word of the Day from the OED

Thu Jan 5 20:36:18 CST 2012

Howe was, as I recall, speaking specifically of Bazarov in a context of mid
19th cent. Russia.....Unlike Irving, I am only a DemiSemite, but that
particular tic, of not uttering the name, is likely "nothin' but the Jew in
me"....

Currently reading The Sot-Weed Factor to develop my stamina for the
re-release of The Recognitions......Can't understand why I failed to do so
until now.....

love,
cfa

On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 9:23 PM, Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>wrote:

> I deny the existence of Gasteriskd, Ghyphend, and Gunderscored, and I
> welcome anyone who believes in any of them to demonstrate that they
> are happier than I am. Spiritual malaise rarely troubles me, except
> sometimes when I don't get enough sunlight. But I really don't think
> that's the same as accidia.
>
> On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 6:12 PM, Charles Albert <cfalbert at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I first came across it in an Irving Howe essay on Fathers & Sons in
> which he
> > defined it as "that torpor of the spirit which derives its strength from
> the
> > denial of the existence of G*d."
> >
> > For some reason it has stuck with me for more than 30 years...
> >
> > love,
> > cfa
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 6:15 AM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> And it seems Mr. Sacred & Profane Durkheim raised awareness
> >> of this word/concept high in his book Suicide.....
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: Dave Monroe <against.the.dave at gmail.com>
> >> To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> >> Cc:
> >> Sent: Wednesday, January 4, 2012 7:49 PM
> >> Subject: Fwd: "accidie, n." - Word of the Day from the OED
> >>
> >> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> >> From:  <oedwotd at oup.com>
> >> Date: Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 7:30 PM
> >> Subject: "accidie, n." - Word of the Day from the OED
> >> To: OEDWOTD-AMER-L at webber.uk.hub.oup.com
> >>
> >>
> >> OED Online Word of the Day
> >>
> >> The December 2011 quarterly update is now available. New words from
> >> across the dictionary include bibimbap, chermoula, earworm,
> >> posilutely, and traceur. Find out more...
> >>
> >> ________________________________
> >>
> >> Your word for today is: accidie, n.
> >>
> >> accidie, n.
> >> Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈaksᵻdi/,  U.S. /ˈæksədi/
> >> Forms: α.   ME accedie,   ME accidy,   ME accidye,   ME–15 accydye,
> >> ME– accidie.  β.   ME accide,   ME accyde.
> >> Etymology: <  Anglo-Norman accidie (13th cent.), Anglo-Norman and Old
> >> French, Middle French accide (13th cent.; French accide, now arch.) <
> >> post-classical Latin accidia (8th cent. in a British source; also in
> >> an undated glossary; occasionally also as acidia and accedia),
> >> alteration (see below) of acedia spiritual sloth, mental weariness
> >> (5th cent., as also as name of one of the deadly sins: see acedia n.).
> >> Compare accidia n., and later acedia n. and acedy n.
> >> The post-classical Latin form accidia probably results either from
> >> folk-etymological association with accidere (see accident n.) or from
> >> a Greek sound change, or may partly reflect both causes. The rare form
> >> acidia probably reflects the (folk-etymological) association with
> >> classical Latin acidus sour (see acid adj.) recorded by Caesarius of
> >> Heisterbach (13th cent.).
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> In Middle English and early modern English the position of the main
> >> stress apparently varied between the first and second syllables.
> >>  Now chiefly arch. and literary.
> >>   Physical or mental slothfulness, esp. as a condition leading to
> >> listlessness and lack of interest in life; apathy, lethargy, torpor;
> >> (also) †an instance of this (obs.).
> >> Regarded esp. in early use as characteristic of or equivalent to the
> >> ‘deadly sin’ of Sloth, and in Christian asceticism as a condition to
> >> which monks and hermits were particularly liable.
> >> ?c1225 (1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 155 Þenne is hit
> >> scheomeles [read ȝemeles] under accidie, þet ich slauðe cleopede, þe
> >> ne warneð oðer of his lure oðer of his biȝete.
> >> c1330 (1300) Speculum Guy (Auch.) l. 121 Accedie is as sleuþes broþer,
> >> Wicke on and wicke oþer.
> >> a1393  Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 539 To serve Accidie in
> >> his office, Ther is of Slowthe an other vice, Which cleped is
> >> Foryetelnesse.
> >> c1400 (1378)  Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. v. 366 And
> >> after al þis excesse he had an accidie, Þat he slepe saterday and
> >> sonday.
> >> 1484  Caxton tr.  Order of Chivalry 81 A man that hath accydye or
> >> slouthe hath sorowe and angre the whyle that he knoweth that an other
> >> man doth wel.
> >> a1500  W. Hilton Mixed Life (Royal)in  G. G. Perry Eng. Prose Treat.
> >> (1921) 23 Breke doune also‥flesshely likynges, oþer in accidie or in
> >> bodili ease.
> >> a1586 Lindsay MS f. 76v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Surmount, Quha
> >> that will overcum & surmont accidie him behuffit that in his hart he
> >> haue strenth.
> >> 1649  J. Gaule Serm. Saints judging World 13 That's an humility or
> >> modesty reprehensible (both for dejectednesse, and pusillanimity, as
> >> also for accidie and sloathfulnesse) that shall lesse it self to Gods
> >> gifts and graces.
> >> 1775  J. Ash New & Compl. Dict. Eng. Lang., Accidie, sloth.
> >> 1858  A. J. Penny Afternoon of Unmarried Life xiv. 254 Will any one
> >> with the experience of middle age deny that there is much in every-day
> >> life calculated to produce accidie?
> >> 1891  F. Paget  (title) The spirit of discipline‥with an‥essay
> >> concerning Accidie.
> >> 1936  H. G. Wells Anat. Frustration vi. 54 There is nothing before you
> >> but sloth and apathy, accidie, which is a lingering suicide.
> >> 1961  K. Amis Let. 9 Apr. (2000) 590 Vacation accidie is upon me. I'm
> >> supposed to be writing this perishing film-script—haven't touched it
> >> yet.
> >> 2006 Antigonish Rev. Summer 14 They knew their destiny but chose not
> >> to dwell on it, falling prey instead to a desperate, hopeless accidie.
> >>
> >> ________________________________
> >>
> >> Visit the OED's home page at http://www.oed.com
> >>
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "Less than any man have I  excuse for prejudice; and I feel for all
> creeds the warm sympathy of one who has come to learn that even the
> trust in reason is a precarious faith, and that we are all fragments
> of darkness groping for the sun. I know no more about the ultimates
> than the simplest urchin in the streets." -- Will Durant
>
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