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prettygoodwordepeolatry (e-pee-AWL-uh-tree) - n., worship of words.
Coined in 1860 by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., in The Professor at the Breakfast-Table, from Ancient Greek roots épos, word (also the root of epic) + latreia, worship (best known from idolatry, worship of idols). Note that lógos, most commonly understood by English speakers as meaning "word" actually had the more general meaning of "something spoken" (and so comparable to saga) while épos was more precisely a single word.
---L.
Coined in 1860 by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., in The Professor at the Breakfast-Table, from Ancient Greek roots épos, word (also the root of epic) + latreia, worship (best known from idolatry, worship of idols). Note that lógos, most commonly understood by English speakers as meaning "word" actually had the more general meaning of "something spoken" (and so comparable to saga) while épos was more precisely a single word.
---L.
