Longanimity – Wacky Word Wednesday

Put your game face on for today’s Wacky Word Wednesday, a weekly celebration of the wackiest and most interesting words from around the world!

Today’s definition from TermWiki.com:

lon·ga·nim·i·ty [long-guh-nim-i-tee] -noun patient endurance of hardships, injuries, or offense; calmness in the face of adversary

Longanimity originated in the early to mid-1400s, derived from the Late Latin longanimis, which means patient. The Latin longus, means long, and animus, means soul.

With roots in Catholicism, longanimity serves as one of the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit. According to Catholic belief, these “fruits” are virtues that can only be performed by an individual with the help of the Holy Spirit. Along with longanimity, the other virtues include: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, mildness, faith, modesty, continence, and chastity.

For another perspective, turn to the Devil’s Dictionary, written by Ambrose Bierce in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Bierce, known for his satirical humor, defines longanimity as “the disposition to endure injury with meek forbearance while maturing a plan of revenge.”

For your reference, below are two examples of longanimity used in a sentence:

• Only by showing an extreme amount of longanimity could that dog have possibly survived five years of torture from the household cat.

• Like a nail steadily hammered to the ground, Job suffered God’s brutal test of his piety—the destruction of his home, his possessions and finally his sons—with the longanimity of a saint.

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