paladin

[tesral]

In case anyone wondered


paladin


PRONUNCIATION:
(PAL-uh-din) http://wordsmith.org/words/images/sound-icon.png (http://wordsmith.org/words/paladin.mp3)

MEANING:
noun:
1. A strong supporter of a cause.
2. A heroic champion.

ETYMOLOGY:
>From French paladin, from Italian paladino, from palatinus ([officer] of the palace). After Palatine, the name of the centermost of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. Roman emperors had their palaces on this hill. Other words such as palace and palatine (http://wordsmith.org/words/palatine.html) derive from the same source. The 12 peers in Charlemagne's court were also called paladins. Earliest documented use: 1592.

[nijineko]

and look at that. a completely non-aligned word origin. (though i imagine the actual individuals were quite aligned in various ways...)

[tesral]

Generally aligned tot beating down their foes as quickly as possible. "Good" equaled winning.

I thought the origin of the word might be useful. It has gathered a lot of gaming baggage over the years.

[Severion]

I've been doing this since '85 an "paladin" will always be http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050025/

[tesral]

That's an oldy but goody. As many Westerns as I watched as a kid that one never made that much impact. Come to think about it, Westrens in general just sort of slid off me.

85 eh? Late starter.

[jwpacker]

Okay, naked shame time - as a boy we thought it was pronounced to rhyme with Aladdin. My mother passed us, as we sat at the kitchen table playing, and gently corrected my friend who so horribly massacred the name. That's one of the moments that sticks with you, I'll tell ya... Takes a kid down a peg. :)

[Malruhn]

That has to be one of the more horrible gaming stories I've ever heard!!

One peg? Dude, you had to start OVER!

[jwpacker]

One peg? Dude, you had to start OVER!

You think you're kidding... the boy had named his character Radin the Paladin. Not Rah-DEEN, no... RAD-in. He was quite literally crushed.

We were, I think, ten or eleven at the time. Those wounds go deep...

[tesral]

As deep as a mud puddle can get.