Make Your Point: CONCOMITANT

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pronounce CONCOMITANT:

kun KOM uh tunt

connect this word to others:

A high five to Karyn, who spotted the cool word concomitant!

Why does it sound so cool? I think it's the internal alliteration: the repetition of that powerful C, concomitant.

See if you can recall some other awesome-sounding words with internal alliteration:

1. Something r__r__ is strict and rigid; or tall, thin, and straight. (Say it!)

2. To c__c__enate things is to link them all together into a chain.

3. A m_m____ m___ (two words) is something you see that reminds you that you'll eventually die. Which can, paradoxically, simultaneously give you a m_m____ v__v___ (two words), a reminder to live and to enjoy life.

Let's also dig deeper and connect concomitant to some of its etymological cousins.

It shares a root, the Latin ire, "to go," with words like exit, sudden, issue, transit, circuit, initial, perish, commence, errant, sedition, obituary, and tr___ient and tr___itory.

Those last two words both mean "going away quickly." Could you recall them?

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

The word "concomitant" traces back through French to a Latin word, concomitari, meaning "to go along with (someone as their companion)." This concomitari breaks down into con, meaning "with," and itari, meaning "to go."

In English, for hundreds of years, "concomitant" has meant "going along with."

In other words, concomitant things are the kind that come along with something else, often because they naturally happen together.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "a new job and its concomitant perks."

Other forms:

The adverb is "concomitantly."

If you need a noun for the idea of things accompanying other things, you can use "concomitance," "concomitancy," or "concomitation."

And if you need a noun for a thing that accompanies or comes along with something else. you can just use "concomitant." Here's W. H. Prescott: "Wealth with its usual concomitants, elegance and comfort."

Finally, it's rare, but you can talk about things that "concomitate," or accompany each other; the other verb forms are "concomitated" and "concomitating." But they sound a bit silly, don't they? Let's just say that things correlate, or coincide.

how to use it:

Pick the formal, academic-sounding, somewhat rare word "concomitant" to call special attention to the fact that one thing tends to come along with another.

By labeling something concomitant, you're not necessarily arguing that one thing was caused by the other: just that they correlate, that they tend to occur together.

You might talk about a job and its concomitant responsibilities, a sport and its concomitant injuries, a career and its concomitant earning potential, or a situation or experience and its concomitant emotions or lessons.

examples:

"Dementia is a neurocognitive disorder that results in a decline in brain function and concomitant impairments in thinking, remembering and reasoning."
— Mark Rice-Oxley, The Guardian, 3 June 2019

"By the time you reach the top of the museum's spiral, you may feel that... There are a few too many instances of shiny metal, moving parts, glowing lights and their concomitant special effects."
— Roberta Smith, New York Times, 9 October 2014

has this page helped you understand "concomitant"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "concomitant" without saying "accompanying" or "associated."

try it out:

In The Anatomy of Melancholy, Robert Burton wrote that "life is sweet, and death is not so terrible in itself as the concomitants of it."

Could you explain what he meant? What are the concomitants of death, or dying? Would you say you basically agree or disagree with Burton's point, and why?

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is "Oh Hey, That's the Title!"

I'll give you a short excerpt from a novel, a play, or a short story. In this excerpt, a character or a narrator actually says the story's title. (If not verbatim, then almost.) And you give me the story's title.

Highlight the hints if you need them, and see the answer by scrolling all the way down. Enjoy!

Try this one today:

"I struggled to pry the lid from the can of tea leaves, aware that my grandmother had come in and was standing close behind me. I stiffened at the sound of her hoarse whisper. 'Romans nine thirteen,' she said. 'As it is written, _____ _____ _____ _____, but Esau have I hated.'"

To reveal the hints below, highlight the hidden white text.

Hint 1: This story was published in the year... 1980.
Hint 2: This story was written by... Katherine Paterson.
Hint 3: The first letter of each word in this title is... "J____ H____ I L____"

review this word:

1. The opposite of CONCOMITANT could be

A. UNSETTLING.
B. UNTRUSTWORTHY.
C. UNACCOMPANYING.

2. As the Guardian reports, the curator of a British museum hopes that its earnings will increase with "_____."

A. a concomitant for community outreach
B. a cozier, more concomitant café, with quiet music and aromatic coffee
C. more visitors, and a concomitant increase in spending in the shops and cafés

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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