Legal Writing

Hippo Words

By Maeve Maddox

A reader writes:

My office mates call me a hippocrite.

When I found this misspelling on a chat site, I started wondering if there might be a connection between hypocrite and the “hippo” words n English.

The prefix “hypo” is from Greek and means “under.” In most English words it’s pronounced with a long i as in hypodermic. The pronunciation of hypocrite is an exception.

hypodermic: hypo + derma (skin) - a needle that goes under the skin.
hypothermic: hypo + therme (heat) - body temperature under normal.
hypoglycemia: hypo + glykis (sweet) + haima (blood) - sugar in the blood under normal
hypotenuse: hypo + teinein (to stretch - the right angle “stretches under”

Things start getting complicated with the “under” connection when we get to hypochondria and hypocrisy.

In Late Latin hypochondria meant “the abdomen,” hypo+chondros “cartilage of the breastbone.” In the 17th century hypochondria came to mean “depression or melancholy illness without cause.” This usage reflected an ancient belief that melancholy originated in the “hypchondria.” Then, in the 19th century, hypochondria acquired its present meaning of “any illness without a specific cause.”

hypocrisy: the “crisy” part of this word derives from a Greek word that meant “to sift, to differentiate.” The sense of “sift” evolved from “to separate gradually” to “to answer” and then “to answer a fellow actor on the stage.” From there it came to mean “acting on the stage.” Everyone knows that acting is pretending. Hypocrisy is pretending to be one kind of person when in fact you’re another kind. A hypocrite is a pretender.

The prefix “hippo” is from the Greek word for “horse.”

hippopotamus: hippo + potamus, “river” - river horse
hippodrome: hippo + dromos, “course” - a place to race horses
hippogriff: hippo + griffin, “mythical creature half bird and half lion” - a mythical creature depicted as a winged horse with the head and claws of an eagle.

Some other Hippos
Augustine of Hippo: early Christina Father. He was bishop of Hippo in Algeria. The city there now is called Annaba.

Hippocrates: the “father of medicine,” author of the Hippocratic Oath for doctors.

picture of a griffin
picture of a hippogriff
text of the ancient Hippocratic Oath

Hippo Words

Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on June 22, 2009 (boomark / email).