Post by t-bob on Jan 6, 2019 10:14:58 GMT -5
Palladium
noun
1. anything believed to provide protection or safety; safeguard.
2. (initial capital letter) a statue of Athena, especially one on the citadel of Troy on which the safety of the city was supposed to depend.
Quotes
This palladium of our liberties, this charter of our rights, this emblem of Democracy, has been speaking in a voice of thunder, as we knew it would if the people could be aroused from their slumber. -- "The Ballot Box," Advocate, June 23, 1862 The abolition of that grand palladium of freedom, the liberty of the press, in the proposed plan of government, and the conduct of its authors, and patrons, is a striking exemplification of these observations. -- Theodore Dreiser, "Reply to Wilson's Speech: 'Centinel' [Samuel Bryan] II," Freeman's Journal, October 24, 1787
Origin
Latin Palladium comes straight from Greek Palládion, a noun use of the adjective Palládios “pertaining to Pallas (Athena),” formed from Pallad-, the stem of Pallas. Pallas may be derived from the Greek verb pállein “to brandish (a weapon).” Palládion was also the name of a small wooden statue of armed Athena that fell from the sky to Troy; possession of this statue ensured the safety of Troy. Palladium entered English in the late 14th century.
noun
1. anything believed to provide protection or safety; safeguard.
2. (initial capital letter) a statue of Athena, especially one on the citadel of Troy on which the safety of the city was supposed to depend.
Quotes
This palladium of our liberties, this charter of our rights, this emblem of Democracy, has been speaking in a voice of thunder, as we knew it would if the people could be aroused from their slumber. -- "The Ballot Box," Advocate, June 23, 1862 The abolition of that grand palladium of freedom, the liberty of the press, in the proposed plan of government, and the conduct of its authors, and patrons, is a striking exemplification of these observations. -- Theodore Dreiser, "Reply to Wilson's Speech: 'Centinel' [Samuel Bryan] II," Freeman's Journal, October 24, 1787
Origin
Latin Palladium comes straight from Greek Palládion, a noun use of the adjective Palládios “pertaining to Pallas (Athena),” formed from Pallad-, the stem of Pallas. Pallas may be derived from the Greek verb pállein “to brandish (a weapon).” Palládion was also the name of a small wooden statue of armed Athena that fell from the sky to Troy; possession of this statue ensured the safety of Troy. Palladium entered English in the late 14th century.
