Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!

You are here

Evolving, Influence, Home

AquamarineAura's picture

EVOLVING

**as a verb

OED

  1. opening; unwinding, uncoiling

  2. of a gas or vapour: issuing forth, emitted, esp. as the result of a chemical reaction

  3. that is in the process of evolution; developing, changing

Dictionary.com

  1. to develop gradually:

  2. to give off or emit, as odors or vapors.

  3. to come forth gradually into being; develop; undergo evolution

Urban Dictionary

  1. To be alive
    Constant learning or progression forward
    Contrary to most religious or political stagnation
    To move in a direction closer to finding the true self or form
    To break free from pain and indifference
    To soar

history:  classical Latin ēvolvere to eject with a rolling or coiling motion, to roll out or away, to cause to roll (out), to free, release, to uncover, unwrap, to unfold (something) by mental processes, discover, to unwind, wind off (a spindle), to unroll (a papyrus roll), to turn over in one's mind, to make known by narrative, to unfold, to unroll, unwind (a series of events), in post-classical Latin also to generate an evolute of (a curve) (1673 or earlier) < ē-e-prefix3 + volverevolvev. Compare Italian evolvere (1519). Compare evolutionn. (which is attested earlier than the verb in a number of specialized senses) and earlier involvev.

 

INFLUENCE

**as a noun…

OED

  1. the action or fact of flowing in; inflowing, influx; said of the action of water and other fluids, and of immaterial things conceived of as flowing in

  2. the capacity or faculty of producing effects by insensible or invisible means, without the employment of material force, or the exercise of formal authority

  3. under the influence: affected by alcoholic liquor; intoxicated, drunk

  4. a thing or person that exercises action or power of a non-material or unexpressed kind

Dictionary.com

  1. the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force onor produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others

  2. the action or process of producing effects on the actions, behavior,opinions, etc., of another or others

  3. a person or thing that exerts influence

Urban Dictionary

  1. The power to change, encourage, or make a difference without force.

  2. Influence is usually used for if you're on drugs.(If have taken drugs, you are "under the influence".) sometimes people can influence you to do something.

 

**as a verb

OED

  1. to exert influence upon, to affect by influence

  2. to affect the mind or action of; to move or induce by influence; sometimes esp. to move by improper or undue influence

Dictionary.com

  1. to exercise influence on; affect; sway

  2. to move or impel (a person) to some action

Urban Dictionary

???

history:  French influence (13th cent. in Hatzfeld & Darmesteter) emanation from the stars (also inflow of water; affluence) = Provençalinfluencia , Spanish influencia , Italian influenza , late or medieval Latin influentia < Latin influent-em , present participle of influĕre to flow in. The astrological sense (corresponding to late Latin influxus (stellarum ) ‘astral influence’, 4th cent. in Firmicus) was common in medieval Latin: compare Pico della Mirandola adv. Astrologos iii. 5. Sense 4 was already established in Scholastic Latin: Aquinas (c1260) has influentia causae (Prof. Bywater)

 

HOME

**as a noun…

OED

  1. a collection of dwellings; a village, a town

  2. a dwelling place; a person’s house or abode; the fixed residence of a fmaily or household

  3. a private house or residence considered merely as a building

  4. a person’s own country or native land (also the country of one’s ancestors)

  5. slang (orig. and chiefly in African-American use) homeboy or homegirl: frequently as a form of address (also said Homes)

Dictionary.com

  1. the place or region where something is native or most common

  2. a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household

  3. a person’s native place or own country

Urban Dictionary

  1. A word that means something different to each person who uses it. A person's home can be the place where they live, the place they grew up, or the place where the people they care about live. In the case of some people, home is a variable concept, changing dependant on the placement of another person or object, or a person may even consider his or her own body the only 'true' home.

  2. Home is a slang word for "sex"

  3. [Homes] Short for "homeboy", someone who is in your neighborhood.

 

**as an adjective…

OED

  1. adjoining or in close proximity to one’s home, or the principal building on a farm or estate

  2. Direct, to the point; effective, appropriate (ex: home truth)

  3. designating the administrative center of an organization

Dictionary.com

  1. of, relating to, or connected with one’s home or country; domestic (ex: home products)

  2. principal or main area of operations (ex: a company’s home office)

  3. reaching the mark aimed at (ex: a home truth)

Urban Dictionary

???

History:  Middle English hom, Old English hām (noun and adv.); cognate with Dutch heim, Old Norse heimr, Danish hjem, Swedish hem, GermanHeim home, Gothic haims village; akin to haunt