TexasDesign.com

Contributed by Chuck Lustig, of ExcitingWriting Communications

Words can be related in origin and meaning, and they can even look alike on the page and sound alike when read aloud, yet have very different meanings. They’re called homonyms.:

Ensure means to make more certain or to help in an outcome. For example, “The structure ensures many years of use.” Insure refers to a contract in place and pay-offs in case of non-performance; it implies a warranty. (Be careful not to confuse these two words or you may be unwittingly implying a legal obligation when you do not wish to.) Assure has a similar meaning as the other two words, meaning to give confidence. It implies actions that could later be given a legal context. Today we often see assure used as a noun. “Before she began the job, she was given certain assurances which failed to materialize.”We office in a cubicle. When we want to describe a blocky sculpture, we might call it cubical.

Ambiguous and its cousin ambiguity refer to “having more than one meaning, open to different interpretations.” It often refers to an unexplained or unexplainable mystery. Ambivalent means “having mixed feelings” about something, for example, a love/hate relationship or, to dress up the language, having attraction-repulsion emotions. One way to think about it: An artist with ambivalent feelings may create art that expresses ambiguity.

Augur and its cousin, augury both refer to a sign that foretells something, for example, an omen. An auger is a tool you use for making a hole, i.e., a bit. The words have separate entomologies.

Egotism “means ‘excessive conceit or self-absorption,’ while egoism is a less common and more technical word for an ethical theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of morality.”

Don’t confuse loath (”reluctant, unwilling”) with loathe, “dislike greatly.” So, you can be loath to partake in something because you loathe it, but not the other way around. Of course, the words have identical entomologies.

I think many of us forget that luxuriant and luxurious are two different words. Luxuriant means “rich and profuse in growth.” Luxurious means “extravagant,” of course. So a mink coat may be luxuriant and luxurious but for two different reasons. Both words share the same entomologies: from the Latin “lux,” meaning “light,” or “to shine.”