Contrite
Bill from Maple City
asked about the word contrite. From the context of what he was reading, he
figured that it meant sorry.
In popular use, that’s
true, but it can also range up to an industrial-strength level of remorse. In
its original sense, contrite referred to a physical state. It meant material
that was crushed, broken, or worn by rubbing. It came into English from 12th
century French. In turn, French had borrowed it from the Latin terere—to rub, crush, or grind.
In time, it took on a
figurative sense, a type of spiritual erosion. It meant a spirit crushed or
broken by the guilt of sinning, thus bringing a person to a penitent state and
the possibility of reconciliation.
That same –trit- root
shows up in other words. Examples include
·
attrition:
reduction in size or strength by wearing away and not replacing
·
detritus:
matter produced by the wearing away of exposed surfaces
·
lithotrity:
medical crushing of stone in the bladder
·
obtrition:
abrasion
·
trite: worn
out by constant use
triturate: to reduce to powder by rubbing, pounding,
crushing, or grinding
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