I’d like to share an entry written by my friend and colleague, Melanie Kusznireckyj, N.D.

etymology in medicine: latin and its fruits
Posted on October 30, 2010 by montrealnd

My father told me this story.

Twenty years ago, when my father was building his driveway, his friend from work who lived close by walked over and said to him:

“you will have to fix your retaining wall because it is going to move.”

My father did not agree. Five years later, he told the man that the wall has not moved. Ten years later, he told the man that the wall has not moved. Two years ago, the wall finally moved. On that same day, he heard the news that the man had passed away.

Synchronicity. Or omen? What does this word mean? There are good and bad interpretations of “omens” (auspicious or inauspicious). I wanted to understand a little more what this word means, and how or why it is used.

It is derived from the latin word Omentum – which means apron. In anatomy, it is the covering of the intestines, the greater and lesser omentum. In ancient times, the omentum of animals was investigated and used to make predictions.

It could also be derived from “audire”, which means to hear.

We can draw the parallel with the omentum, the gut, and intuition.

This interpretation, or the creative intellect, is woven in the web of so many mysteries. It is fascinating to unravel the history of these mysteries, only to discover the beauty of the creation and how things come to be.

taken from http://montrealnd.wordpress.com/