Question: My friends and I, who are avid climbers, have been wondering about the word "apex." Someone said they read that it had something to do with a cap worn by priests. What's the story here?Answer: The information you have is correct but in need of elaboration. "Apex" entered English from Latin, where it originally meant "a small rod at the top of a flamen's cap." What's a flamen's cap? Flamens were priests who devoted themselves to serving just one of the many ancient Roman gods (for instance, just Jupiter or Mars). Those priests wore distinctive conical caps that English speakers dubbed "flamen's caps." The dramatist Ben Jonson is one of the few English writers known to have used "apex" in its "flamen's-cap" sense when he wrote in 1603, "Upon his head a hat of delicate wool, whose top ended in a cone, and was thence called apex."
From this use "apex" came to refer to the tip of anything, and by the early 17th century it was being used to refer to the top of a mountain and then to the top of a pyramid, a dome, or even a leaf or crystal. The figurative use soon followed the literal "tip" use, appearing by the mid-1600s.
"Apex" is one of several word choices to mean "peak." When you make it to the top (either literally or figuratively), you've reached the "apex" or "summit" or "pinnacle" or "acme," but the implied security of your perch varies depending upon which of those words you choose.
"Apex" implies a location where ascending lines converge, while "summit" suggests the topmost level available. A "pinnacle" is often a dizzying and insecure height, but "acme" carries the sense of reaching perfection.
Question: An old bird watching guide I picked up at a flea market was full of quaint expressions, one of which has me puzzled. The term is "Argus-eyed." What does it mean and where does it come from?
Answer: If you've ever seen a peacock display his magnificent spotted tail, then you've seen the eyes of Argus the All-Seeing, a legendary creature reputed to have one hundred eyes on his head and body. The story comes from Greek myth. Because of his special visual abilities, Argus was chosen by the Greek goddess queen Hera to keep an eye on Io, a priestess turned heifer who had caught the eye of Hera's dallying husband, Zeus. Argus proved to be equal to the task, but all his eyes were eventually lulled to sleep by Hermes, who then killed him. After his death, Hera transferred the eyes of Argus to the tail of the peacock.
From this story we get "Argus" and "Argus-eyed." If you call someone an "Argus," you think of that person as a watchful guardian.
Question: In my work in word processing, I am often confronted with the problem of choosing between "it's" and "its." A classic example would be "the shipment is on its (or it's) way to you." I have always believed that words ending in an apostrophe plus "s" are possessive. Could you help clarify this matter?
Answer: This is a question that troubles a great many people, but the matter of "it's" and "its" is really very simple. There are no complicated tests of meaning or grammar that need to be applied before you can decide which one to use. "It's" is always a contraction of "it is," never a possessive. The word "its" is used to indicate third person singular possession. Therefore, your example should read "the shipment is on its way to you" or "it's (it is) on its way to you."
This column was prepared by the editors of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition. Send questions to: Merriam-Webster's Wordwatch, P.O. Box 281, 47 Federal St., Springfield, MAnswer: 01102. (C) Merriam-Webster Inc.