megafauna (MEG-uh-faw-nuh) - n., large animals, esp. relatively large for a particular region, period, or habitat; (outdated) animals large enough to be seen with the unaided eye.


Ancient Greek mégas meant great/large/mighty, cognate with Latin magnus and English much, is the source of today's prefix, which got a popularity boost for being used in the metric system to mean a million-x unit (though the scaling is modified to 2²⁰ in computing contexts). The most recent ice ages were known for animals that were larger than their modern counterparts, which is the most common use for megafauna that I meet. The term was coined in 1876 by Alfred Russel Wallace, though it was not commonly used until the 1920s. Other words with mega- include megaton ("a million tons") and megabrew ("large-batch beer").

---L.

Another theme week -- following on 'all' prefixes with 'large' prefixes, and following on the universe with the:


macrocosm (MAK-ruh-koz-uhm) - n., the universe considered as a whole; the total or entire complex structure of something; a complex structure, such as a society, considered as a single entity that contains numerous similar, smaller-scale structures.


Coined in Medieval Latin (and taken into English via French around 1600) from Ancient Greek roots makrós, large/long/far + kósmos, the universe -- which sounds like a redundancy: The universe already contains all, so why additionally specify that it's large? That last sense is the key one, as philosophers needed words for the concepts of macrocosm and microcosm, that the whole is reflected in its parts -- that as on earth so in heaven, and that there's correspondences between, for example, the human body and the heavens:


Thanks, WikiMedia!

This is a very common concept in ancient philosophies worldwide, including Ancient Greece, and theorizing about it continued in the European Middle Ages and Renaissance. Other words with macro- include macrobiotic ("prolonging life") and macrometer ("large/long measurement"). (I was going to use macron, but that's not a prefix but rather noun use of the neuter of makrós, and not prefixing anything.)

---L.

universe (YOO-nuh-vurs) - n., all of spacetime and all it contains; a hypothetical spacetime-and-contents that supposed to exist simultaneously with but different from this universe; whole world in the sense of perspective or social setting, a sphere of interest, activity, or understanding.


And other extended meanings, including a set of stories/films/etc. that share a continuity. Dates to a little before 1400 (insert Chaucer citation), Middle English form identical to Modern English, from either Old French univers or Italian universo, from Latin ūniversum, all things/as a whole/the universe, noun use of the neuter of ūniversus, all together/whole, literally "turned into one," from uni-, combining form of unus, one + versus turned (perfect passive participle of vertō, to turn). Other words with uni- include uniform ("having one form/shape") and unibrow ("having one [eye]brow").


And that wraps up a week of all prefixes -- er, 'all' prefixes.

---L.

holocaust (HOL-uh-kawst, HOH-luh-kawst) - n., a sacrifice that is completely burned to ashes, burnt offering; complete destruction by fire, the thing so destroyed; (usually as the Holocaust) the mass slaughter of European civilians and especially Jews by the Nazis during World War II; any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life esp. by human agency.


A lot to unpack here. :deep breath: The burnt offering sense dates to the 1300s, used to translate Hebrew ‘ōlâ, "that which goes up [in smoke]," in Biblical contexts, from Late Latin holocaustum, from Ancient Greek holókauston, neuter of holókaustos, wholly burnt, used of sacrifices burnt to ashes rather than shared with the celebrants, from holo-, whole/entire + kaustós, burnt. The first extended sense developed in the 1600s, and was broadened in the 1900s to encompass other types of catastrophes, a usage now deprecated. It was first applied to what the Nazis did in 1942, but the proper noun doesn't appear until the late 1950s and wasn't widespread until around 1970. Because of that specialized use, the application to other destruction has become mostly restricted to human agency. :exhales: Other words with holo- include hologram ("whole stroke/line [i.e. drawing]") and holistic ("pertaining to the whole").

---L.

pandemic (pan-DEM-ik) - adj., (of a disease) epidemic over a large area, prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the world; (in general) widespread, general. n., a disease prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the world.


This prefix, pan-, is from Ancient Greek, where it was also a prefix meaning all/every -- the stem here is also from Ancient Greek, dêmos, the common people/the population, and put together pándēmos meant "of or belonging to all the people." Its application to diseases in English dates to the 1650s (the noun use is from the 1830s). Closely related is epidemic, meaning prevalent throughout a community, so more localized than a pandemic, and endemic, meaning constantly present at a baseline level, so occurring at lower levels than a epidemic/pandemic. Other words with pan- include pandemonium ("all the demons") and panacea ("all-healing").

---L.

omniscient (om-NISH-uhnt) - adj., having total or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding.


Our next all prefix comes from Latin omnis, meaning all. Also a noun, one who is all-knowing. This word was originally coined in Medieval Latin as omnisciēns, from omni(s) + sciēns, knowing (from scīre, to know) -- English as usual took on the stem form omniscient-. The original context was theological. Other words with omni- include omnivore ("eating all [the things]") and omnibus ("for all").

---L.