Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

In the mid-17th century, the English poet John Milton coined the word pandemonium in his epic poem Paradise Lost. Irish artist Robert Barker, in 1796, invented the term panorama to denote his painted wrap-around landscapes. Both men employed the Greek pan in their linguistic innovationsa prefix meaning "all." Milton's pandemonium means "dwelling of all demons," and Barker's panorama can be translated as "a place to see all."

Pan is a hard-working prefix in the English language. It's the vanguard of such words as pandemic, which literally means "all the people." A pandemic disease, for example, can affect a whole continent, or the entire world: all the people.

Pan heads up the word panacea, meaning "universal remedy." The word literally means "all-healing."

The recently coined adjectival phrase Pan-American means "relating to all of North, Central and South America." Similar prefix-related terms are Pan-African, Pan-Arabic and Pan-Hellenic.

Pantomime is also included in this prefix tribe. A word of Greek heritage, pantomime means "all-imitator."

A cruise through the pan section of your dictionary will reveal more lexical delights headed up this prefix. Next time: how the mythological character Pandora fits into this etymological family portrait.

Radio Script > Pan- Prefix