On the Care of Lordship

It was in the shower this morning that I suddenly realised that the English word 'curiosity' is horribly close to the Greek word κύριος; in fact, transliterated, they share the same first six letters. The catch is that the latter means 'lord', and I couldn't at first see the connection. So I sat down while drying my hair and thought a bit more.

The origin of 'curiosity' as an object of attention comes from Latin curare, 'to have the care of'. It is where we get 'curate' (one who has care of souls) and 'curator' (one who looks after things). The things looked after are therefore curated, and the process of curation is called the 'cure'. If it is raw meat that is to be kept, it must be cured with salt; if it is a patient, it must be cured with medicine. But the thing cared for is a 'curiosity'.

This is actually the middle step. It is now quite clear how this acts as a link between 'lord' and 'the faculty of being inquisitive'.

Taking one step back, a lord or master (as κύριος is sometimes translated) must have care over his people; the property of being a curator comes with the status of being boss. Taking one step forward, the interest over things that are looked after is called 'curiosity'. Therefore, the human properties of lordship (being a lord) and curiosity (interest over the things before you) are intertwined and inextricable.

A lord must have care for the things and people entrusted to him; this is true whether they are things physical, spiritual, cultural, social, intellectual, emotional or anything else. A lord without curiosity, that deep and abiding interest in the things that are entrusted to him, is a lord who is missing true lordship, what an ancient Greek, brought forward to this age, would have called κύριος-ity.

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This wasn't the only matter of etymological interest which came to mind today, but having dealt with 'curiosity', I will save 'cunning', 'calefare' and 'congress' for a later date. And then I will cease.