Make Your Point > Archived Issues > PERPETUITY

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connect today's word to others: Even though we're already familiar with words like perpetual and perpetually, let's get better acquainted with their more serious, dramatic family member: perpetuity. The whole family (perpetuity, perpetual, and perpetually) comes from a Latin word meaning "continuous or universal." We can break those words down further into per, meaning "through," and petere, meaning "to go, to aim, to seek, to rush at." That means perpetuity is related to lots of words involving movements, desires, and even attacks, like appetite, compete, impetus, and our word impet_____, meaning "moving in forceful, violent, unthinking way." Getting back to the idea of perpetuity, see if you can recall this dramatic word that means "constant; lasting forever, lasting in perpetuity:" sem______al. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "PERPETUITY" Something perpetual, or something that happens perpetually, goes on forever and ever. And to perpetuate something is to make it keep going, to make it continue forever. Something that happens in perpetuity never stops: it keeps on happening for forever, for all of time. Pronunciation: per puh TOO uh tee Part of speech: Uncountable noun. (Like "milk," "rice," and "advice," uncountable nouns are words for stuff that can’t be broken into exact units. You talk about "some milk," "the rice," and "a lot of advice," but you don’t say "a milk," "three rices," or "many advices." Likewise, talk about "the perpetuity," "this perpetuity," "its perpetuity," "such perpetuity," "no perpetuity," and so on, but don’t say "a perpetuity," "one perpetuity," or "perpetuities.") Other forms: Perpetual, perpetually; perpetuate, perpetuated, perpetuating, perpetuation. Two alternatives to "perpetuity" are "perpetuality" and "perpetualness," but I recommend sticking with "perpetuity." How to use it: Most often we use a serious tone and talk about things happening in perpetuity:    a program is funded in perpetuity,    records are stored in perpetuity,    a property is owned in perpetuity,    a monument is protected in perpetuity,    housing is maintained somewhere in perpetuity,     production is being extended in perpetuity,     wrongdoers are barred from public office in perpetuity,     criminals pay in perpetuity for what they did even after serving their time, etc. Also, we can talk about something's perpetuity, or the perpetuity of something: "democracy's perpetuity," "the perpetuity of the universe's expansion." examples: Like a rare species of bird that's dying out, a language with no young speakers can't exist in perpetuity. After the author known as V. C. Andrews died, her family hired a ghostwriter and seems to be publishing novels under her name in perpetuity--over 60 of them so far. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "perpetuity" means when you can explain it without saying "permanence" or "stretch of unlimited time." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Someone or something) seems doomed to (do or be something) in perpetuity." Example: "Spider-Man seems doomed to be reincarnated in perpetuity." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. "Bits & Pieces." This month, we're playing with affixes and combining forms, the bits and pieces of our language, matching them to their meanings. The more of these bits and pieces you know, the better you are at decoding unfamiliar words, which is sooo satisfying! I'll share the answers in each subsequent issue. Here are the answers from our previous issue: 1. "chaeto-" means "hair." 2. "haemo-/hemo-" means "blood." 3. "hidro-" means "sweat." 4. "lachrymo-" means "tears." 5. "myo-" means "muscle." Try this set today. It's about numbers: 1. "quinqu-" means _____. 2. "septi-" means _____. 3. "ter-" means _____. 4. "undeca-" means _____. 5. "viginti-" means _____.    Answer bank:       A. three       B. five       C. seven       D. eleven       E. twenty review today's word: 1. The opposite of PERPETUITY is A. FREE REIN. B. CONDITIONALITY. C. TEMPORARY PERIOD. 2. A fabric that was prevalent in 17th- and 18th-century England was known as perpetuana, and as that name suggests, it was made for _____. A. warmth B. durability C. color and beauty Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. 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. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. B