Welcome to Wondrous Words Wednesday, a chance to meet other word nerds and improve your vocabulary at the same time! Awesome! Stop by bermudaonion.net to find more cool words.
My contribution this week comes from the dystopian YA novel Divergent, by Veronica Roth. I just started reading it; I know, I’m so behind. The third book in the series, Allegent, just came out, and my husband has already started it on his Kindle.
In the world of Divergent, everyone is divided into five factions. When you reach adulthood, you choose your faction and commit to it forever. Veronica Roth chose interesting names for her factions, and although I could glean basic definitions for each group, I decided some word nerd sleuthing was in order. I’m glad I took the time: some of the meanings and etymology were interesting, and not what I expected.
The Five Factions and Their Definitions
- Abnegation \ab-ni-‘gā-shən\ noun from Latin abnegare to refute, ab + negare to deny; self-denial
- Amity \’am-ət-ē\ noun, from Latin amicus, friend; friendship, especially friendly relations between nations. Think amiable, or, for those of you who know Spanish, amiga! Before I looked it up, I missed the “friend” meaning and just thought “nice.”
- Candor \’kan-dər\ noun from Latin candidus bright, white and candēre, to shine or glow; 1) whiteness, brilliance, or unstained purity; 2) fairness, 3) unreserved, honest 4) (archaic) kindliness. The “brilliance” bit surprised me, as did “kindliness”, but that is an archaic use. Many of the “Candor” in Divergent seem blunt more than “brilliant”.
- Dauntless \’dont-ləs\ adj from Latin domitare to tame; daunt = to cow or subdue; dauntless means fearless, undaunted. I liked the “unable to subdue” meaning here.
- Erudite \’er-(y)ə-dīt\ adj from Latin eruditus, instruct; fr e + rudis, rude; possessing or displaying extensive knowledge acquired chiefly from books. The “rude” etymology implies a haughty tone.
By the way, divergent means differing from a standard, or deviant.
Word Nerd Workout
Choose your faction! Fortunately, I won’t ask you to slice your palm open with a knife or leave your family forever, but I would like you explain your choice. I think it would be cool to learn more about you.
My choice? Although erudite is tempting, I pick amity. I really like it when everyone gets along. I would NEVER choose dauntless- I’m afraid of heights, hate violence, and cannot throw a punch.
Your turn! Thanks for sharing.
Julia
I know these other posts are old, but just came across this and I can’t believe that no one replied “DIVERGENT”!! I would definitely be Divergent. I think I am, to some degree. I have many different areas of interest in life. And have always been a little good at everything. I am not meaning to sound boastful, in fact, I have always wanted to truly excel in one thing….maybe I should pick one. But I think that this is what we should all want to be, not just a single item or identity. The world could be better if all of us would apply a little of each characteristic.
The reason I found your site is because I just watched the movie, again, and am curious why the author chose some adjective forms and some noun forms for the factions. What do you think? Does it just sound better that way or is there more to it?
I agree with you Kami, we don’t fit into one box. I think that’s a great point of the series – we shouldn’t lock people into categories. Four echoes your sentiment in Divergent when he shows Tris all of his tattoos.
I’m not sure why Veronica Roth chose the names for her factions, but I live with a proud Divergent fandom girl who owns two collectors editions of the books, so I will consult with her and get back to you. I’m curious too!
More later. Go Divergents!
I’m still uncertain if I want to read this series. Is it a very unique spin on the usual dystopian novel?
I think I would either go with Amity or Candor. (I’m also glad to finally read a post where I knew all the word definitions.)
Good for you Jennifer to know all these words! Divergent has a fairly “typical” dystopian story. I’m half way through and will do a review when I’m finished, probably comparing it to other popular dystopian (like Hunger Games and Matched. It’s a controlled society, good ideas have been taken to the extreme, and there are major problems.
I think I will join you in the Amity faction. I will go completely out of my way to avoid confrontation. I have been putting off the Divergent series, as an grandmother and now great grandmother, I am not sure I can make it though them. Maybe I’ll try as soon as I finish the Hunger Games series. LOL
When I told my husband I picked Amity, he wrinkled his nose. “They’re too wishy washy in the book,” he said. Sometimes I’m too wishy washy too!
I found this very interesting. Dystopian literature is not my genre, although I keep up with it via my fourteen-year-old granddaughter. I would have picked Amity also. I have a book on my kindle titled Amity and Sorrow that I’m going to read soon. I especially like contrasts like that.
What a fun post! I just bot back from visiting my mom and she would definitely be in Abnegation. Amity is tempting but I think I’d choose candor. Surely we’d all get along if we were fair and honest.
What I should have included in the post is that the book explores how all of these “noble” ideals- honesty, sacrifice, courage- can get warped if taken to extremes. Pretty interesting.
A popular series, I knew a few of them.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2013/11/wondrous-words-wednesday.html
Love this word nerd workout today! I’ve been meaning to start the Divergent series, so thanks for the reminder.
My gut instinct is candor, if it’s brilliant and honest, not blunt.
I would have to pick erudite. I would want to belong to any faction where I could read, read, read!
Okay, see, now you’re making me regret my choice. 😉
Julia, Liz can’t put “Divergent” down. She is enjoying it, but said she liked “The Hunger Games” series better. She is counting down the days until “Catching Fire” debuts Nov. 22. She was angling last night for a “Catching Fire” T-shirt.
I like Katniss (Hunger Games) better than Tris (Divergent). Divergent isn’t quite as intense as H.G., although the main characters are competing with each other for survival. Somehow, the stakes aren’t as high.