Chrysti The Wordsmith: Petra- Words - 1

Greetings This is Christie the wordsmith from Montana State University in Bozeman the noun's rock and stone are synonymous or nearly so. In Standard American English my American heritage College Dictionary defines rock as quote relatively hard naturally formed mineral matter. Stone under Stone's entry the American Heritage reads concreted earthy or mineral matter rock the Greek word for Rock On the other hand is Petra p e t r o s. This linguistic element has a quiet but important presence in modern English. It appears in petroleum petrol chemical petroglyphs petrify and the delightful Petra core and stay tuned for more on this word deriving from the Greek word for rock Petra. These terms are indeed associated with concreted mineral matter. Take for example petroleum. The word for the oily liquid that occurs naturally in certain rock strata. This term is a combination of the Greek Petrus meaning rock and oleum or oil

etymologically petrol is rock oil. If you are petrified you are sore afraid but petrification is not your garden variety fear you are immobile with terror when petrified etymologically you are turned to stone by dint of the Greek pet truss meaning rock petrify next time on the series. The rock words petroglyphs and Petra Cor. I'm Christi the wordsmith from k g l t f m in Bozeman Montana Christie the wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises. A high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry sued web dotcom.