Versus

“perquisite” vs. “prerequisite”

Nouns, Versus

I sometimes see or hear these nouns used interchangeably.

Problem:
The nouns “perquisite” and “prerequisite” are not synonyms.

Explanation:
The noun “perquisite” — spelled P-E-R-Q-U-I-S-I-T-E — dates back to the early 1400s and refers to an incidental privilege or payment beyond regular salary or wages.

Many readers may know the informal noun “perk” — spelled P-E-R-K — which was coined in the 1800s as a shortened form of “perquisite”.

The origin of the noun “perquisite” is the Latin word “perquisitus”, which is the participle of the Latin verb “perquirere”, which means to inquire diligently.

This origin makes sense when one knows that the tertiary meaning of “perquisite” is something demanded as a particular privilege, as in “It was a perquisite of royalty.”

In other words, the noun “perquisite” began as a reference to something demanded by royalty, and it evolved to mean something extra given to employees.

The noun “prerequisite” — spelled P-R-E-Q-U-I-S-I-T-E — dates back to the early 1600s and means something prerequisite.

So one then must turn to the meaning of the adjective “prerequisite”, which is required beforehand, with “required” coming from the “requisite” part of “prerequisite” and with “beforehand” coming from the “pre” part of “prerequisite”.

Solution:
Think of the informal noun “perk” to remember the meaning of the noun “perquisite”; think of the parts of the noun “prerequisite” to remember its meaning.

“Hoard” vs. “Horde”

Nouns, Verbs, Versus

I sometimes see these words used interchangeably.

Problem:
The words “hoard” and “horde” are not synonyms.

Explanation:
The word “hoard” — spelled H-O-A-R-D — dates back to before 900 to the Gothic word “huzd”, which literally meant treasure.

When it acts as a noun, the word “hoard” means an accumulation that is carefully guarded for future use.

When it acts as a verb with an object, the word “hoard” means to accumulate for future use in a hidden place.

When it acts as a verb without an object, the word “hoard” means to accumulate food, money, or anything else valuable in a hidden place for future use.

The word “horde” — spelled H-O-R-D-E — dates back to about 1550 but apparently originated before then with the Turkic word “ordu”, which literally means royal camp or residence.

The primary meaning of the word “horde” as a noun is a mass or crowd, and an alternate meaning is a nomadic group.

The word “horde” can also be used as a verb without an object, in which case it means to gather or assemble in a horde.

Solution:
Remember that the word “horde” — spelled H-O-R-D-E — seems to come from the Turkic word “ordu”, which means royal camp or residence, to remember that this word relates to a crowd or mass or group of people and to distinguish it from the word “hoard” — spelled H-O-A-R-D — which comes from a Gothic word for treasure.

“Defuse” vs. “Diffuse”

Mispronunciations, Misspellings, Verbs, Versus

I sometimes see or hear these verbs used interchangeably.

Problem:
The verbs “defuse” and “diffuse” are not synonyms.

Explanation:
The verb “defuse” — spelled D-E-F-U-S-E — was coined in the early 1940s and means to remove the fuse from, where the “de” prefix in this verb indicates negation and the “fuse” suffix refers to a cord of readily combustible material and comes from the Italian word “fuso”, which literally means spindle.

Unless you are a terrorist or sadist, you want the police to defuse a bomb.

The verb “diffuse” — spelled D-I-F-F-U-S-E — dates back to the late 1300s and means to spread or disseminate, where the “dif” prefix means apart or away and the “fuse” suffix comes from a form of the Latin word “fundere”, which literally means to melt.

Once the police have defused a bomb, they often will diffuse a message to the public about their success.

I believe that the oral/auditory confusion comes from mispronunciations of these two verbs.

I believe that the written confusion comes from ignorance about the roots of these two verbs and from misspellings originating from that ignorance or the mispronunciations.

Solution:
Remember that the “de” in “defuse” indicates negation, and remember that the “dif” in “diffuse” means apart or away.