One of the magnificent things about reading old books is that without fail, I will run across a word that I am unfamiliar with. Such is the case this week as I am reading through the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.

This week's word is valetudinarian. Before I define it, I will offer the context in which it is presented in Meditations. In Book 1, Aurelius recounts the virtues he has learned from the myriad people he has been in relationship with. As is fitting, the longest list of all of these is the list of things he learned from his [adoptive] father. Among the many things listed, he includes:

sensible care of his own body, neither vain nor valetudinarian, but not neglectful either, so that his own attention to himself left very little need for doctors, doses, or applications.

I was instantly intrigued about the genuine defintion of this word, although I had formed a defintion in my own mind using contest clues. Alas, my conclusions were highly tainted by postmodern sensibilities, so I'm glad I took the time to look it up!

Valetudinarian: [Latin valetudinarius, from valetudo, from valeo, to be well]. Sickly; weak; infirm; seeking to recover health.

Interesting! Slightly off based from what I thought.

I know it's been quite a while since we've explored a word together. I hope you found it educational.

Happy Wednesday!