By Barbara McAlister
Word of the Day: Pontiff
“Pontiff” is an interesting word that came to be the title of powerful priests and eventually the pope himself. If you look the word up in the dictionary, it will most likely say that pontiff is derived from the French meaning high priest. Dig a little deeper and you will find the French got the word from the Latin “pontifex,” from pons — bridge — and fex — a maker. The pontiff is, literally, a bridge-maker, a seemingly fit description of the pope’s position. The handle for Catholic church head Pope Francis’ twitter account is @Pontifex. Latin is one of the nine languages he tweets in.
Other words from the same root are “pontificate” and “pontoon.” Pont remains the French word for bridge and is also the Welsh word for bridge. In South Africa, a pont is a river ferry. Pontage is an old word used for a bridge toll. The Dutch and Germans took the word pont and turned it into “punt” which in all three cultures is a flat-bottomed boat used to bridge waterways.
Although pont is a valid Scrabble word in the UK, Australia and Europe, it’s debatable whether it is considered a legitimate Scrabble word in the U.S. It’s far less controversial to substitute the word “pons,” also from the same root meaning bridge. It’s an English word for the part of the body consisting of the connecting nerve fibers that bridge parts of the brain.
