Make Your Point: VOLATILE

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pronounce VOLATILE:

VOLL uh dull

connect this word to others:

If you spot an unfamiliar word with "vol" in it, it very likely traces back to Latin. And it very likely has something to do with wishing, turning, or flying.

The Latin word for "fly," volare, gave us the words volley, volleyball, volant (meaning "flying," or "in a flying position with the wings outstretched"), and volatile, the word we're checking out today. As far as I can tell, those are the only common English words we have from volare, "to fly."

Most of the time, when you spot a word with "vol" in it, it traces instead to the Latin velle, "to will, to wish;" or to the Latin volvere, "to roll, to turn."

For example, words from velle ("to will or wish") include volunteer, b___volent ("wishing others well"), m___volent ("wishing evil upon others"), and nol__ vol___ ("willing or unwilling").

And words from volvere ("to turn or roll") include evolve, involve, volume, vol____ ("talking fast, with words rolling out") and vol__-face ("a turning of the face, a major shift in opinion").

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

definition:

"Volatile" comes from the Latin volatilis, which means "flying, winged, quick, or quickly disappearing," and traces further back to volare, "to fly."

In English, "volatile" started out as a synonym for "bird" and "flying." It grew to mean "flying quickly from place to place," and then "quickly dispersing, like certain chemicals or fumes do."

Today, when we call something volatile, we mean it's the kind that changes or moves very quickly, especially in an explosive or violent way.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "a volatile situation;" "The situation grew increasingly volatile."

Other forms:

You can call things "semi-volatile," "non-volatile," and "involatile."

The noun is "volatility." It's fun to say: "voll uh TILL uh tee." (I'll admit there's another noun, "volatileness," but oof, that sounds ugly.)

There's also a verb, "volatize," but as far as I can it's only used in specific scientific contexts.

how to use it:

When you want to strike a scientific tone as you describe people and situations that seem likely to change explosively, pick the common, formal word "volatile."

You might complain about a volatile person or their volatile emotions, a volatile relationship or issue, or a volatile place or situation. To really emphasize the comparison to explosive chemicals, you could describe certain things or people as volatile mixes or combinations. And when certain things fluctuate wildly when they ought to be steady or predictable, like your monthly income, you might complain about their volatility.

examples:

"The plundering of graveyards regularly outraged the citizenry... In the spring of 1787, the volatile issue of supplying medical schools with anatomy subjects stoked a full-scale riot in New York City."
— Chip Jones, The Organ Thieves, 2020

"And then there are prices. Worldwide, wholesale food prices, adjusted for inflation, have grown about 50 percent since 1999, and those prices have also grown considerably more volatile, making not just markets but the whole agricultural Rube Goldberg network less reliable."
— David Wallace-Wells, New York Times, 28 July 2024

has this page helped you understand "volatile"?

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 "volatile" without saying "erratic" or "capricious."

try it out:

In her novel Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie narrates the thoughts of a character whose mother has died:

"He had discovered that grief did not dim with time; it was instead a volatile state of being."

Talk about what that means: how is grief volatile? Have you experienced this yourself?

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 "The Tip of the Tongue!"

You know how sometimes you'll be reaching for a perfect word, and it's right there at the tip of your tongue, where you can almost taste it? Somehow that word is caught in the liminal space between your memory and your mouth. This month, let's play with that experience, and practice resolving it to our satisfaction.

I'll give you a short quote from Chris Palmer's heartfelt and eye-opening new book, Achieving a Good Death: A Practical Guide to the End of Life, along with a blank where Chris has deployed a truly perfect word. To help bring that word to the tip of your tongue, I'll describe it both physically and semantically.

Try this one today:

"[Minimalism is] a lifestyle that _____s against the overconsumption all around us."

The word is 3 syllables long. It has two letter Ts in it, not a double T but two Ts spread apart.

The word means "fights powerfully against, like a soldier."

To reveal the right word, scroll to the bottom of the issue.

review this word:

1. The opposite of VOLATILE is

A. ROOTED.
B. STABLE.
C. MANDATORY.

2. According to a writer for Salon, demand for goods during the COVID-19 pandemic became "volatile," which "_____ land-based and maritime transportation networks."

A. overtaxed
B. wreaked havoc on
C. allowed companies to optimize

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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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > VOLATILE

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