Make Your Point > Archived Issues > ELOQUENT
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pronounce
ELOQUENT:
Say it "ELL uh kwunt."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
Inside today's word eloquent, you can glimpse the Latin loqui, "to speak." See if you can recall several other words from the loqui family:
1. Loqu_____s people are very talkative.
2. G_____loquence is an overly fancy way of talking or writing.
3. To s___loquize is to talk to yourself out loud, often for a long time, as if you're a character on a stage.
4. C__loqu___ word and phrases are the kind that regular folks use when they talk with each other in casual settings.
5. C_____locutory people and things are wordy and indirect, going around and around the point instead of getting straight to it.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
The words "eloquence" and "eloquent" have Latin bits that mean "speaking out."
They date back to the 1300s in English. Imagine back in those days before microphones, having to speak in front of a large crowd: you'd really have to get loud. So it makes sense to think of the first good, loud speakers as eloquent, or literally able to "speak out."
Since then, we've apparently raised our standards. Today, eloquence isn't just loud, clear speaking but persuasive, engaging speaking.
In other words, eloquence is the art or power of speaking and/or writing well, in a way that pleases the ear and touches the heart.
Eloquent people (and their eloquent comments, speeches, writings, etc.) have that power: they're skilled in speaking and/or writing with wit, grace, or power, so they're able to entertain and influence people.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Adjective: "an eloquent man;" "Their statements were eloquent."
Other forms:
Eloquence, eloquently.
how to use it:
"Eloquent" is a common, formal, lovely word.
We talk about eloquent people and their eloquent speeches, comments, responses, explanations, descriptions, poems, stories, etc.
Feel free to get abstract and attribute eloquence to faces, smiles, objects, nature, music, actions, and so on. Here's Joseph Heller: "He wandered back, his sensitive face eloquent with grief." And here's Carl Sagan: "The lunar surface offers eloquent testimony of a previous age of the destruction of worlds, now billions of years gone."
You can strike an especially formal tone by saying that one thing is "eloquent of" another, meaning it's beautifully expressive of it. Here's Rachel Carson: "The location of the mitochondria within certain cells is eloquent of their function, since they are placed so that energy can be delivered precisely where it is needed."
examples:
"How eloquent he had been that night, how sweet the rhythm of his words as he went to the very edge of emotional outrage but never crossed over into it, never lost control."
— H. G. Bissinger, Friday Night Lights, 1990
"Until now the animals had been about equally divided in their sympathies, but in a moment Snowball's eloquence had carried them away."
— George Orwell, Animal Farm, 1945
has this page helped you understand "eloquent"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "eloquent" without saying "speaking beautifully" or "speaking fluidly."
try it out:
Imagine being as eloquent as Abe Lincoln when he was just writing a letter to a friend:
"Peace does not appear so distant as it did. I hope it will come soon, and come to stay; and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future time. It will then have been proved that, among free men, there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet; and that they who take such appeal are sure to lose their case, and pay the cost."
— 1863 personal letter, as quoted by Ronald C. White, The Eloquent President, 2005
I guess if we're trying to be as eloquent as Abe, we could try using tons of short words and grammatical parallelism. (I'd be bad at the short words part.)
With Abe in mind as an example, talk about another person, real or fictional, who embodies eloquence. What are some things they've said that strike you as especially eloquent?
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 this month: It Sounds Wiser in Latin.
Try matching a handful of Latin phrases to their English translations. If you need some clues, I'll provide them in the form of definitions of related words. Enjoy!
Try these today:
1. ars longa, vita brevis
2. bonus vir semper tiro
3. claude os, aperi oculos
4. deridet, sed non derideor
5. errantem in viam reducito
A. a good man is always a learner
B. art is long, life is short
C. he laughs, but I am not laughed at
D. keep the mouth shut, but the eyes open
E. lead back the wanderer into the right way
To peek at the clues, follow the links:
1. A tyro is...
2. To deride people is to...
3. Brevity is...
review this word:
A. GROSS, HORRID, or ABHORRENT.
B. IDLE, INACTIVE, or FAINEANT.
C. MUMBLING, TONGUE-TIED, or INCOHERENT.
2.
They're a bunch of eloquent liars; don't be fooled by their _____.
A. warm smiles
B. Gucci suits
C. smooth talking
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.
Inside today's word eloquent, you can glimpse the Latin loqui, "to speak." See if you can recall several other words from the loqui family:
The words "eloquence" and "eloquent" have Latin bits that mean "speaking out."
Part of speech:
"Eloquent" is a common, formal, lovely word.
"How eloquent he had been that night, how sweet the rhythm of his words as he went to the very edge of emotional outrage but never crossed over into it, never lost control."
Explain the meaning of "eloquent" without saying "speaking beautifully" or "speaking fluidly."
Imagine being as eloquent as Abe Lincoln when he was just writing a letter to a friend:
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.
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. |