A WORD A DAY.

Southland Times, Issue 21650, 11 March 1932, Page 8

A WORD A DAY.

INFINITE. That which is immeasurable and unbounded in tjme, space, quality or quantity, may be designated as infinite. The boundlessness, illimitableness of this conception fills one with awe as before something so complete and all-embracing that it attains perfection. The combination of the Latin in, not, and finis, limit, describes something indefinitely extensive. Since limitless power and wisdom are attributes of God, we rightly name Him the infinite Being and call eternity, infinity. Boundless, countless, immeasurable, limitless, these are considered synonyms, yet they are vaguely employed to denote what is difficult or almost impossible to count, while falling short of infinite. Finite, the opposite, means limited, restricted, terminable. Both the adjective and noun forms emphasize the first syllable, in’-fi-nite. Sound the three i’s as in tin. “God is infinite.” FLAGITIOUS. For S.M.: This word is often used in connection with crime, giving to the evil deed the colour of shamefulness, grossly wicked, villainous. It is not a pretty word, and let us hope that the occasions for its use will become fewer and fewer. The Latin flagitium, from which our word is derived, meant “a disgraceful act,” akin to flagitare, “to demand hotly, fiercely," and flagrare, “to burn.” Fla-gi-tious is accented on the second syllable and is pronounced as though spelled fla-jish-us, with the a as in sofa, i as in it, u was in circus. “The Press should not encourage flagitious practices in the underworld by giving them great publicity,”