Better "Late" Than Never Trivia Quiz

Answer: collateral

"Collateral" comes from Medieval Latin "collateralis" (from "cum-" + "lateralis"), with the literal meaning of "side by side" (from the noun "latus", meaning "side"), through Old French "collateral". As an adjective, in English it has the meaning of "accompanying" or "parallel" - as in the infamous euphemism "collateral damage" for the accidental killing of civilians (in use since the late 1960s).

In American English, "collateral" is also used as a noun, replacing the phrase "collateral security" - which denotes property given to secure the performance of a contract. This latter use was first attested in English in the early 18th century, while "collateral" as an adjective dates from the 13th or 14th century.

Answer: conflate

Like related verbs "inflate" and "deflate", "conflate" derives from the Latin verb "flare", meaning "to blow". The various prefixes (originally prepositions) used before "flare" determine the meaning of the new verb: thus, "inflate" ("in" + "flare") means "to blow in", "deflate" ("de" + "flare") means "to blow out", and "conflate" ("cum" + "flare") means "to blow together". Interestingly, Latin "flare" and English "blow" do not only have the same meaning, but also the same origin, as they both come from an Indo-European root.

As is the case of other verbs ending in "-late", "conflate" comes from the past participle form "conflatus". The likely meaning of the verb in late Middle English 15th century) was "to fuse or melt down metal", while in its earliest attestations in modern English (late 16th century) it came to mean "to bring together from various sources. Now "conflate" is generally used in a variety of contexts, often figurative - as in "conflating ideas/concepts".

Answer: latent

The word "latent" comes from the Latin "latens", the past participle of the verb "latere" ("to lie hidden"). It is one of the many words of Latin origin that entered English in the Middle English stage (in this case the 15th century), when the influence of French was pervasive. It is a term mainly used in the context of various sciences, such as pathology, psychology, or botany.

Though generally used as an adjective, "latent" also exists as a noun, though with a very specialized meaning - that of a fingerprint that is barely visible, but can be developed for study. This particular meaning was first attested in English in the 1920s.

Answer: folate

Also known as vitamin B9, folate is a naturally occurring compound of the vitamin B complex that is also produced by metabolism of folic acid in the human body. It is essential for a healthy pregnancy, and many women take it as a dietary supplement. The words "folic" and "folate" come from the Latin "folium", meaning "leaf" (from which also the term "folio" for a book format is derived), since folate occurs in green, leafy vegetables such as spinach, cabbage, and kale, as well as broccoli and asparagus.

The suffix "-ate", derived from "-atus", the Latin ending of the passive past participle, is used to form adjectives from nouns, and can have various meanings. In chemistry, "-ate" indicates a derivative (such as a salt) of an element or compound: in this case, folate is a derivative of folic acid.

Answer: slated

"Slated" is the past participle of the verb "to slate", which means "to designate (someone or something) for a specific purpose or action". The verb is related in meaning to the noun "slate", denoting a metamorphic rock used as construction material or a surface to write on. One of the meanings of "slate" as a noun is "a list of candidates for nomination or election" - something that might be written on a chalkboard (traditionally made of slate) or any similar surface.

Etymologically, "slate" is related to "slit", and is of Germanic origin, though it entered English through the Anglo-French "esclater", meaning "to break off" - which refers to the rock's property of cleaving or splitting readily into thin slabs.

Answer: elated

Used mostly as an adjective, "elated" is another word with roots in the irregular Latin verb "ferre" ("to carry", "to bring"). The Latin "elatus", past participle of "efferre" ("ex-" + "ferre"), had a number of meanings, one of which was "lifted up", "raised" - which explains the English meaning of "joyful" (i.e. "with lifted spirits"). According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the verb "elate" was first used in English around 1619, and the adjective a few decades later; other sources, however, report somewhat earlier dates for both.

The oldest of the English words derived from "elatus" is the noun "elation", which entered English in the 14th century through Middle French - probably with the less positive meaning of "pride" or "arrogance".

Answer: adulate

The verb "adulate" is a back formation (first attested in 1777) from the noun "adulation", which entered English in the 15th century. The latter comes from the Latin verb "adulari", which originally meant "to fawn on" referring to a dog's affectionate behaviour, in particular its tail-wagging. Indeed, the Latin verb is believed to derive from a root of Indo-European origin meaning "tail", preceded by the suffix "ad-" - though not all scholars agree with that.

While the Latin word had a positive connotation if used in reference to dogs (which were viewed positively in ancient Rome), its meaning became definitely negative if applied to humans, denoting insincere and self-serving praise. As a verb, "adulate" is somewhat rare in English, being more commonly replaced by "flatter".

Answer: prelate

Applying to such members of the Christian clergy as cardinals, bishops, and abbots, "prelate" has the same etymology as the English verb "prefer". The word comes from Medieval Latin "praelatus", which is the past participle of the irregular verb "praeferre" - meaning "carry before" or "set above" . Indeed, a prelate is someone who is set above others: in the Roman Catholic Church, a prelate is somebody who has authority over a jurisdiction, such as a diocese. The first known use of "prelate" in English dates from the late 12th or early 13th century.

Another word with religious connotations and a similar etymology is "oblate", meaning someone dedicated to religious life. This word comes from Medieval Latin "oblatus", the past participle of "offerre" ("to bring before", hence "to offer").

Answer: inviolate

Although it looks like one of the many verbs ending in "-late", "inviolate" is actually an adjective, derived from the Latin "inviolatus" - the past participle of the verb "violare" ("to violate") preceded by the negative suffix "in". First attested in English in the 15th century, "inviolate" is a rather high-register word in the modern language. However, is sometimes used in journalism (as shown by the examples reported on the Merriam-Webster dictionary) to mean "intact", "unbroken", or as a synonym of the more common "inviolable" - though the meaning of the two words is not exactly the same.

The Latin verb "violare", from which "inviolate" ultimately stems, is related to "vis" ("force"), and thus also to "violence" (Lat. "violentia"). On the other hand, it is unrelated to either the name of the string instrument "viola" or the scientific name of the violet (Viola odorata).

Answer: titillate

The almost onomatopoeic verb "titillate" (believed indeed to imitate the sound of giggling) comes from the Latin "titillare", which means "to tickle". The motto of Hogwarts, the fictional school of magic in J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series - "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus" (i.e. "never tickle a sleeping dragon") - employs the Latin word in its original meaning. In English, where it was first attested around 1620, "titillate" and derived words (such as "titillating" and "titillation") are generally used in a figurative rather than physical sense, denoting pleasurable excitement.

"Titillate" is often confused with "titivate", a verb that looks and sounds similar, but has in fact the rather different meaning of "to spruce up", and very likely comes from "tidy".