Spelling Bee

I watched the final rounds of the Scripps National spelling Bee yesterday and, as always, was impressed by the composure as much as the erudition of the young folks in the final round.

The contestant who won second prize -- Tim Ruiter of Centreville, Va. -- was finally eliminated by the word "Maecenas," meaning "a generous patron, especially of literature or art."

Maecenas doesn't have a very helpful etymology. It comes from a proper name -- in this case, from the name of Gaius Maecenas, a Roman statesman of the first century BC. With many words, a speller who knows etymology, definition, etc. (the points spellers are allowed and encouraged to ask about in these contests) can infer the right spelling. But in the case of a proper name, poor Tim would have to have seen it -- or guessed it rightly.

His guess began with My ... and he was done.

Well, not entirely. For the remaining speller in such circumstances is not allowed to win by elimination. She had to get her word right. If Kavya Shivashankar had gotten her next word (Laodicean) wrong, Tim would have been asked back on stage, and the contest would have continued.

Kavya did know Laodicean, and took the title. I confess I not only would not have been able to spell the word, I had no idea what it meant until the ABC commentators on the spelling-bee program explained it to me. The term means indifference or lukewarmth in matters of religion.

And it too is a proper name in origin, though the name of a place rather than a person.