Libra 7: A woman feeding chickens and protecting them from the hawks
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8/3/2019 Libra 7: A woman feeding chickens and protecting them from the hawks
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Libra 7: A woman feeding chickens and protecting them from
the hawks
The word feed descends from
t h e I nd o -E u r o p e a n ( I E ) r o o t p a-
w h i c h m eans “ t o pr o t ec t , f eed . ” 1
I ts paronyms include fodder ,
forage, foray, fur , pablum, feed,
food, foster , pasture, antipasto,
repast , pastern, pastor , pester ,
panada, pa ntry , companion,
company, bezoar , a nd sat r ap .
The word chicken d e s c e nd s
from the Old Engl ish c i cen
meaning “young fowl .” The word
i t s e l f h a s s e v e r a l d e f i n i t i o ns i nc l u d i ng ( 1 ) t h e c o m m o n d o m e s t i c f o w l , i t s
young, or i ts f lesh as food (2) a s lang word for coward and (3) a game in
which the part ic ipants persist in a dangerous course of act ion unti l one
l o s e s ne r v e a nd s t o p s . 2
The word protect ion i s a derivat ive of the IE root (s)teg-2 which
m eans “ t o c o v er . ” 3 I ts paronyms include the words deck, detect ,
stegosaur , protect , tectr ix , thatch, thug, t i le , a nd toga .
Th e w o r d hawk d e s c e nd s f r o m t h e I E r o o t kap- , “ t o g r as p . ” 4 I t s
p a r o ny m s i nc l u d e heddle ( o ne o f t h e s e t s o f p a r a l l e l d o u bl e d t h r e a d s i n a
l o o m ) , heavy , h av en , hawk (bird of prey) , gaff (a large iron hook
a t t a c h e d t o a p o l e ) , heft , cab l e , cait i f f ( a d e s p i c a bl e c o w a r d ; a w r e t c h ) ,capias (a warrant for arrest) , capture , cat ch , cat er , chase (to pursue) ,
cop (to take unlawful ly or without permission) , copper (a pol ice of f icer) ,
1 W a t k i n s , C . ( 2 0 0 0 ) , T h e A m e r i c a n H e r i t a g e D i c t i o n a r y o f I n d o E u r o p e a n R o o t s , p . 6 1
2 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / c h i c k e n
3 W a t k i n s , C . ( 2 0 0 0 ) , T h e A m e r i c a n H e r i t a g e D i c t i o n a r y o f I n d o E u r o p e a n R o o t s , p . 8 5
4 W a t k i n s , C . ( 2 0 0 0 ) , T h e A m e r i c a n H e r i t a g e D i c t i o n a r y o f I n d o E u r o p e a n R o o t s , p . 3 7
8/3/2019 Libra 7: A woman feeding chickens and protecting them from the hawks
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accep t , anticipate , conceive , decei v e , have , receive, inception, occupy,
participate, perceive, recipe, recover , hoof , behoove, copepod (minute
m a r i ne a nd f r e s h w a t e r c r u s t a c e a ns ) , a nd t h e c o m p o u nd b eh av e .
THEMES: Recal l that pa- , t h e r o o t o f feeding , m eans “ t o pr o t ec t , f eed ”
while steg-2 , the root of protect , means “to cover .” The words “cover”
a nd protect are synonyms. 5 One def ini t ion of the former is “ t o p l a c e
something upon or over , so as to protect or conceal . ” 6 N o t a bl y , t h e m o t t o
o f m any po l i c e f o r c es i n t h e Uni t ed S t at es i s “ t o pr o t ec t and s er v e . ” 7
Po l i c e ar e r e f er r ed t o as “c o ps ” , a par o ny m o f hawk , a nd t h e i r ba d g e s a r e
also known as “shields” , a term which can mean “a protect ive device or
s t r u c t u r e . ”8
A s e c o nd t h e m e c o nc e r ns COWARDICE , a qu a l i t y a nt i t h e ti c a l t o t h e
PHYSICAL COURAGE embodied by and expected of cops and other
protectors . Recal l that one of the paronyms of hawk i s cait i f f which
m e a ns “a despicable coward; a wretch.” 9 A nd a s a l s o no t e d a bo v e , t h e
word chicken i s a l s o s l a ng f o r c o w a r d .10 Fi na l l y , t h e c o w a r d i c e o f t h e
chicken contrasts starkly with the “act ively aggressive and combative
at t i t u d e” associated with the hawk . 11
A third theme concerns FOOD . The words i tsel f i s a paronym of
feeding . Def ini t ions of the word chicken refer not only to the bird i tsel f
but to i ts “ f lesh” which is a major source of f ood . This bird is a lso the
m o s t a bu nd a nt s u p p l i e r o f e g g s a s food . A l s o , t h e p a r o ny m s o f feeding
include several others related to food — fodder , forage, pablum, feed,
pasture, antipas to, panada, a nd pantry .
5 h t t p : / / t h e s a u r u s . c o m / b r o w s e / c o v e r
6 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / c o v e r
7 h t t p : / / m e d i a . g i a n t b o m b . c o m / u p l o a d s / 2 / 2 3 2 86 / 1 8 1 3 1 3 3 - p r o t e c t _ a n d _ s e r v e _ s u p e r . j p g
8 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / s h i e l d
9 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / c a i t i f f
10 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / c h i c k e n
11 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / h a w k